Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale
by Assassin master ezio 91
Summary: A Novelization of my first playthrough of this amazing game. A year after a tragic event affected them, eight teenagers return to their holiday ski lodge, unaware of sinister goings-on that threaten their sanity and very lives, they are soon caught up in mysterious tale of revenge, love and horror, but who will still be alive when the dawn comes?
1. Prologue

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Well, this is it, my first Until Dawn story, having got the game for Christmas I utterly fell in love with it and decided to novelize my first playthrough of the game. This means BTW, that all the choices I make, whoever dies and what not, it all happens, nothing I can do about it. I do my best not to cheat and use walkthroughs and such, if, at any point, I do break from this, I'll tell you when and let you know why.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it, my take on the prologue.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Prologue: A Cruel Twist of Fate**

The snow billowed around the mountain, the moon was high and the night dark, standing defiant against the elements was the large building known locally as the Washington Lodge, property of the Washington family; it's lights shone bright. Outside the lodge a mysterious stranger clad in dark clothing stood, he clutched a machete tightly in his hand. Inside the lodge were ten teenagers, all within the age range of seventeen to nineteen.

Right now the majority of said teens were in the dining room, two of them passed out drunk. The others were all talking quietly amongst themselves, except for one of the girls who was standing separate from the others. Three of the occupants of the lodge were the children of the Washington family.

The eldest of those was nineteen year old Joshua Washington, known as Josh to his friends, he and his sisters all had dark chocolate-brown hair and caramel complexions, unlike his eighteen year old sister's who were twins, Josh had green eyes.

The Washington sisters meanwhile had dark brown eyes. One of the sister's, Beth, was in the same room, she was the girl standing separate from the others, looking out the window. Her hair came to just below her chin with bangs framing her face. Apart from her hair being longer, down to her shoulders, the other sister, Hannah, was the perfect image of Beth.

Hannah was nowhere around right now, while Josh was one of the two boys passed out drunk; the other being his best friend, eighteen year old Christopher 'Chris' Hartley. A man with fair skin, short dirty blonde hair worn in a faux-hawk style who also wore a pair of grey rectangular glasses.

The remainder of the friends were all gathering together, further along the room, talking amongst themselves. One of them, a girl of seventeen with green eyes, beige blonde hair in small pigtails and a bisque complexion, Jessica 'Jess' Riley, was placing a note on the table where it could be found, by it's intended recipient.

It was two in the morning, the group of teens had been partying and enjoying themselves and, some of them quite giddy from the drink, had decided to play a prank on Hannah Washington. The basis of the prank being Hannah's crush on another member of the group.

Eighteen year old Michael 'Mike' Munroe, a muscular young man with short dark brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. This raised some issues, anger especially from Mike's girlfriend Emily Davis, an eighteen year old Asian-American woman with above shoulder length black hair and light brown eyes, an olive complexion and a small birthmark above her right eyebrow.

It had been Jessica who came up with the prank as a means to get revenge, which involved having Hannah find the note, apparently from Mike, luring her to one of the bedrooms where they would trick her into an embarrassing situation which they would get on camera.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you actually did this." Emily remarked to Jessica, her voice shaking with laughter.

Jessica waved a hand, pointing out Beth across the room. "Shh...Shh...Shh."

Emily just smirked and another girl, standing nearby, shook her head.

"Don't you guys think this is a bit cruel?" She said, all too aware of how sensitive Hannah was.

This girl was also eighteen, had fair skin, medium long blonde hair which she tied in a classic bun style at the back, leaving a few locks framing her face. She also had hazel eyes, this girl was called Samantha Giddings, also known as Sam.

The others turned to her, joined by two others, a boy and a girl, both seventeen. The first was a boy named Matthew Taylor, Matt to his friends, an African-American male with short black hair and brown eyes. The girl was Ashley Brown, a young Caucasian woman with medium length auburn hair and green eyes.

Jessica shook her head. "Oh come on, she deserves it."

Sam shook her head, replying defensively. "It's not her fault she has a huge crush on Mike-"

"Hannah's been making moves on him." Jess shot back, shaking her head. "I'm just looking out for my girl Em."

She grinned to Emily before they all began leaving the room. As they walked Emily spoke up again.

"Just because he's class Prez doesn't mean he belongs to everyone...Mike is my man." She exclaimed.

Mike sighed and shook his head. "Hey Em, I'm not anybody's man."

"Whatever you say darling."

So it was they all hurried out, heading up to the guest room where their little prank was to take place. Shaking her head, Sam went in a different direction, preparing to find and warn Hannah.

"Hannah!" She called out, desperate to find her before it was too late.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Beth looking out the window, Chris and Josh passed out and Sam searching for Hannah, the others were all in the guest room. They were preparing for the prank, getting into their hiding places. Ashley hiding behind a partition, Matt in the closet, keeping the door opened enough to film the incident through. Ashley was trying to stifle her giggles, as were Jess and Emily as they hid under the bed. Mike stood by the bed, waiting for Hannah.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the dining room, Beth was looking out the window at the snow.

She bit her lip. _'Wow, it's really coming down...Huh, where has everyone, what the…?'_

Her thoughts were cut off as she spotted something outside, it looked like a person, standing out in the snow. The figure turned and left immediately but Beth saw them and turned quickly, calling out.

"Hey...Did you see that?" She queried. "Dad said it'd just be us this weekend...Josh?"

No response. She approached her brother and tried to shake him awake, to no avail. She then spotted the beer bottle next to him, amongst others. She picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

"Jeez Josh." She laughed. "Once again brother, you've outdone us all."

Shaking her head she looked around, trying to find the others, it was then she saw the note on the table and checked it. It was signed by Mike and seemed to be inviting Hannah up to the guest room, the content was somewhat sexual and Beth sighed.

"Oh my God, what'd our naive sister get herself into now?"

She shook her head, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the guest room, Emily and Jessica were still giggling when Emily heard the movement and nudged Jess.

"Oop!...She's here, shh!" She whispered.

The door opened and Hannah entered, immediately noticeable in terms of difference of appearance between her and her twin sister was the fact Hannah wore onyx-black rectangular glasses, she also wore a heart shaped locket which was known to contain a picture of her and Beth.

"Mike?" She said quietly, curiously. "It's Hannah."

Mike smiled as he replied. "Hey Hannah."

Hannah stepped fully into the room, closing the door and smiling, suddenly awkward.

"I got your note..."

"Glad you could make it." He said, suave and charming. "Maybe we should start with a little, you know, making out, and see where it goes from there."

Hannah bit her lip, suddenly feeling like this was her chance, that she might finally get Mike's attention. As a result she reacted eagerly, unbuttoning her blouse, starting to remove it, starting to reveal her recent black butterfly tattoo, located on her upper right arm.

Mike's eyes widened and he grinned. "Ohhhhh, hell yeah."

Jess couldn't help but burst into giggles as she let out a strangled whisper. "Oh my God! She's taking her shirt off!"

"What?" Hannah gasped; hearing her and then seeing Jess and Emily. "Oh my God!"

The others burst out of their hiding places at that time, including Matt with his camera.

"Matt?! What are you doing here?!" Hannah gasped in horror.

She was stuck, her shame caught for all her friends to see and worse, it was being filmed.

She fumbled her shirt back on, her face burning with shame.

Mike began trying to save face. "Uh, I'm sorry Hannah, this all got outta hand, but..."

At that moment Sam burst into the room, realizing in dismay she had been too late.

She turned quickly to Hannah. "Hannah, Hannah, hey honey...Don't...it's just a..."

But Hannah was too distraught to even listen to her friend. "Mike…!"

She turned and ran from the room, not stopping.

Sam groaned as she finished her statement. "...Stupid prank."

"Uh...damn." Mike muttered, the others all sharing a look.

Sam turned to the others and glared. "You guys are jerks, you know that?"

She turned and ran after Hannah. "HANNAH!"

She only just arrived in time to see and hear Hannah exit by the front door.

* * *

Beth was still down in the dining room and looked up at that point and spotted movement outside; she was startled, wondering if it was the same figure as before. She reacted at once, rushing out the door, calling out to the others.

"Guys, there's someone outside!" She called out, before noticing them all heading outside too. "What the hell…?"

She hurried to pull on her fuchsia winter coat, hearing the others calling her sister's name. Bursting outside, into the cold, the others all stopped, Sam calling out in desperation.

"Hannah!"

Beth burst out after them, shoving Matt out of the way as she did so.

"What's going on?" She demanded, looking around at the others. "Where's my sister going?"

Jess shook her head dismissively. "Ugh, it's fine, she just can't take a joke."

In a similar tone Emily called out into the woods. "It was just a prank, Han!"

Beth glared, looking carefully at them, realizing right away they were responsible. "What did you do!?"

"We were just messing around Beth...It wasn't serious." Mike tried to explain.

"You JERKS!"

With that Beth turned and run off into the woods after Hannah, calling out to her.

"So..." Mike began awkwardly. "Should we go after her?"

Sam shook her head. "Y'know, I kinda think you're the LAST person she wants to see right now, Mike."

With that the others turned and made their way back inside, Sam just prayed Beth would be able to find Hannah and bring her back.

* * *

Stumbling through the snow, Beth grit her teeth, looking around for her sister.

"Oh shit!" She muttered. "Dammit Hannah, where are you?"

She stumbled onwards, stopping when she found a fork at the road. She looked around, there were footprints on one path and a shadow on the other. Acting on instinct she followed the footprints, nearly running into a herd of dear, crying out. Still she stumbled on, frantic, trying to find her sister. It was getting darker and she soon had to pull out her phone and use it's light feature to find her way.

' _Shit, shit this is messed up...What is, huh?'_ She thought frantically.

She stopped when she spotted a strange object on the ground, it looked like an old Native American totem. Picking it up, she looked at it, turning it over to find a strange butterfly design, black in color, suddenly her vision was overwhelmed with a strange sight, a sight of her falling down a cliff and landing badly, looking disturbingly dead and next to her, Hannah, in the same state. She dropped the totem at once.

' _What the fuck is that...'_

Shaking her head and trying to purge the disturbing sight from her mind she hurried onwards. She hadn't gone more than a few paces when a burst of flames above and to her left startled her. But then she could hear someone sobbing; she reacted at once.

"Hannah!"

Rushing forwards she found Hannah, kneeling in the snow, sobbing.

"Hello?" Hannah replied, looking up in shock.

"Hanna!" Beth cried out, seeing her sister wasn't wearing a coat. "Oh my God, you must be freezing."

Despite the fact Hannah was wearing jeans and a blouse and Beth, in comparison, had a simple shirt and yoga pants, she removed her coat.

"Here, take my coat."

Hannah pulled it on as she slowly stood up, both of them standing together now.

Hannah remained distraught as she shook her head.

"I'm such an idiot, I'm so dumb..." She whimpered.

Beth did her best to comfort her, but then, suddenly they heard a terrifying screech.

"Hanna…?"

The girl just shook her head. "Beth…?"

Beth bit her lip, terrified; the screech sounded again and, in blind panic, they turned and ran as fast as they could, no easy task due to the snow. Running in a blind panic they made it to an old bridge, crossing the bridge Hannah fell.

Crying out Beth turned to help her sister up, unaware that, at that moment, her phone fell from her pocket, falling under the floorboards of the bridge. They continued onwards, both wanting to find safety but ending up trapped as they reached a dead end, a cliff.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" Beth gasped.

Hannah let out choked gasps as she and Beth clung to each other moving backwards until they couldn't go any further due to the edge of the cliff.

"No..."

They could hear the screeching getting closer.

"No, shit, no, get back!" Beth cried out. "Fuck, no...ARGH!"

She cried out as they suddenly lost their footing and fell. They now were stuck, Beth hanging onto a branch protruding from the ledge, holding Hannah's hand with her other hand.

A burst of flame suddenly lit up the night above them. Beth looked up in horror as a strange masked figure appeared above them and, after a brief pause, reached out towards them. Beth grit her teeth, she could feel Hannah's hand slipping through her own, she couldn't abandon her sister and, seeing this figure wasn't helping.

It only terrorized her more and, unable to hold on anymore, she let go. The last thing she knew was the pain of slamming against the ground several times.

She struck a particular rock and life was wiped from her body.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Okay, one thing I do need to know, while I'll be including some of the collectibles, particularly those that I deem important, I'm not sure about the totems, I included the one Beth finds, mainly as I wanted to at least get a mention of them in here, but should I do the others, what do you think, let me know, thanks :)


	2. Chapter 1 – Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 1 part 1 of my Until Dawn story, I'll be working like this, mostly to stop chapters being overly long and for my sanity when it comes to writing, each in-game chapter will be split into 2 or 3 parts, depending on length, anyway, hope you enjoy.

Oh and, as I am still playing the game as I do this, try to keep the spoilers to a minimum if you have any questions in the reviews, also due to playing the game as I do this, the story will only be uploaded sporadically. I'll play a chapter of the game, then type up its chapters and upload them and so on.

Also, forgot to mention, pairings, well, obviously the ones seen at the start of the game will feature so Mike/Jess and Matt/Emily, but I will be trying for getting Chris/Ashley together :)

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story. Since no comment was made on it, I won't be including the totems.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **–** **Part 1** **:** **Return to Blackwood**

 _One Year Later_

 _Therapy Session_

The lone figure sat in the chair, within the office of the therapist; he sat behind a neat oak desk, the office was dimly lit, moonlight filtering between the blinds, the room was sparsely furnished, but there were many pictures on the wall. On the desk was a clipboard, several framed photos and a metronome. Aside from the lone figure, there was only one other person in the room.

Said person was an older man with balding gray hair and green eyes. He had a sophisticated and professional look, reflected in his clothes a black-striped tie, a white pinstriped button-up shirt and a gray vest and black suit trousers. The nameplate on the desk gave his name as Dr. Hill.

After pouring himself a small drink from the drinks cabinet next to the window, the only other furniture of note in the room, Dr. Hill turned and approached the table, sitting in the chair opposite the figure who was waiting for him.

He smiled in a relaxed fashion as he took a sip from the drink, setting it down and picking up a pen and the clipboard.

Making a few brief notes, before observing the ticking metronome, Dr. Hill turned to the figure.

"Before we begin, there are a few things I need to make sure you understand." He stated. "You see, no one can change what happened last year. The past is beyond our control. You have to accept this in order to move forward. But there is freedom in this revelation."

The figure nodded slowly, trying to take this in.

Dr. Hill continued. "Everything you do, every decision you make from now on, will open doors to the future. I want you to remember this. I want you to remember this as you play your 'game'. Every single choice will affect your fate, and the fate of those around you."

The figure nodded with more enthusiasm this time, clearly agreeing.

"So, you have committed to commence with this 'game'. This is significant." Dr. Hill remarked, as he steepled his fingers. "And I want to help you see it through. Sometimes... Sometimes these things can be a little scary... even terrifying... but I am here to make sure that no matter how upsetting things may get, you'll always find a way to work through it."

There was a momentary silence after this. Dr. Hill made a few extra notes before taking another sip of his drink.

Finally, with a casual nod, Dr. Hill reached over and picked up a card which he placed on the table in front of the figure.

"Alright. We will start with a simple exercise. Could you please pick up the card?" He stated. "And I want you to look at the picture on the other side, and tell me what you feel about it."

The figure went to pick up the card when Dr. Hill interrupted.

"It is essential that you answer honestly in order to get the most out of this experience."

The figure nodded before picking it up and looking at the image on the given card. It showed a quaint scene, a simple farm like area with a nice cottage. The only thing marring it was a slightly creepy looking scarecrow, but the figure could look past that; they finally put the card down.

"So..." Dr. Hill queried. "How did that picture make you feel? Remember, be honest."

With a casual shrug the figure replied. "It made me happy."

Dr. Hill nodded, with an interested expression, writing on a clipboard. "That's good. In what way did it make you happy?"

"It's peaceful."

"Ahh, interesting, it's interesting." Dr. Hill stated. "So, would it make you happy to spend a whole week here...all by yourself?"

The figure paused for a moment, thinking carefully.

Finally, after considering the matter for a while, the figure smiled and replied.

"Yes, it would."

Dr. Hill raised an eyebrow. "And what if I told you that this cottage...was haunted?"

"I wouldn't care." The figure replied firmly.

Dr. Hill made a few more notes, smiling again. "Ahh... a level headed response. But... everyone is frightened of something... I wonder what it is that does frighten you? I really do."

He glanced at his watch, stopped the metronome and then remarked.

"Sorry! We're out of time. Let's investigate that in our next session, shall we?"

The figure nodded and Dr. Hill stood, taking his drink and walked over to the window, taking another sip. The figure stood up and left.

* * *

 _Blackwood Pines; Cable Car Lower Station_

 _Time: 21:02 (Ten Hours Until Dawn)_

The bus drove slowly through the mountain road, the snow fell softly, lying heavily on the ground. It was late at night, Samantha Giddings found herself as the last passenger on the bus. She could hardly believe it had been a whole year since the last visit. Now here she was, on her way for the annual get together of her and her friends. She was currently looking out the window, listen, through headphones, to a radio podcast about the incident from a year ago.

' _Still no one ever found Hannah and Beth...And we're going back to the lodge now.'_ She thought to herself. _'Is this really the right thing to do.'_

She lowered her gaze, casually checking her nails, painted light blue with small white snowflakes on them. She listened to the podcast mentioning a person of interest and the old sanatorium before pressing a button on her iPhone; showing a video of Josh.

"Hello friends and fans." Josh greeted on the video, before shaking his head. "Let's try that again."

He stepped forwards and adjusted the camera before stepping back into shot.

Smiling widely he spoke again. "Hello friends and fans. It is beyond awesome to have to have all you guys all back this year."

Sam bit her lip, watching carefully; something about Josh's attitude in the video made her feel worried for him.

"First of all, I've gotta say I am super excited to welcome back all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway." He explained before doing a mock cheer similar to a live audience in a TV show.

Sam continued to watch, glancing up to check where she was.

She wasn't sure how Josh had been coping throughout the year; he had been saying he was fine, but it always felt, to her, that he was hiding something.

' _It also doesn't help that Chris and I were the only ones to really stay in touch with Josh afterwards.'_ She reflected sadly.

The video was still ongoing and she listened more. "So um...let me just take a moment to address the 'elephant in the room' so to speak. I know you're probably all worried about me and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back; after what happened last year."

He pause for a moment before smiling again and continuing. "I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we're all still together. Thinking of them."

Sam knew that, officially, Hannah and Beth were still missing, but it was pretty obvious to all but the most optimistic they were dead.

"I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments we'll never forget." He explained. "So, let's party like we're fucking pron stars, okay?"

He laughed and the video ended; Sam smiled lightly and put her iPhone away, removing the headphones before standing up and moving towards the front of the bus. She quickly spoke to the driver.

"This is my stop here." She said.

The driver nodded and stopped and Sam disembarked from the bus. With a sigh she looked around as the snow gently swirled around her.

She was grateful she had dressed for the weather; in a purple long-sleeved shirt, a black leather jacket wrapped with a lipstick-red thick scarf around her neck, grey boots with white trimmings, a fur hat and a red plaid skirt along with black tights.

As the bus drove off, Sam did not notice the black clad figure, wielding a machete who stood on the other side of the road, watching her for a moment before turning and walking away.

With the bus having driven away, Sam prepared to make her way up to the cable car station which would take up the mountain, closer to the lodge, she knew the others would be arriving, or already here.

As she began to take a step forwards, she heard a distinctive noise, it sounded like a twig snapping and she could swear she could hear heavy breathing.

"Hello?" She called out, looking around worried. "Someone there?"

No response, the noises stopped; shaking her head and feeling paranoid suddenly Sam began to walk up the path, her boots crunching through the snow. It did not take her long to reach the gate; she reached out a hand to open it but stopped.

' _Huh, what's this?'_ She wondered, spotting a note attached to the gate.

She picked it up and read it. _"The gate is busted, climb over. Chris."_

She sighed and shook her head. "Oh man."

Looking around she finally spotted a possible section of wall she could scale to her left. She walked over and immediately began climbing, going as quickly as she could.

She stopped for a moment, looking up and judging the distance.

Taking the risk she jumped up, grabbing the top edge of the wall. She pulled herself up with a grunt and once on top, deftly leapt down, bending her knees to absorb the impact. She straightened up, smiling once she was on the other side and resumed her walk.

She glanced around again, sure she heard something, she had a strange feeling that something, or some _one_ was watching her. She brushed the feeling off however, stopping when she saw something else. Smiling she squatted down, gently lifting up a small pile of nuts and holding out her hand, with the nuts on them.

"Hey, cute little squirrel." She said quietly. "C'mon, it's alright."

She stayed as still as possible until the squirrel came up and took the nuts from her hand before scampering off.

Straightening up Sam laughed softly. "Cutie."

Still smiling she made her way up to the lower cable car station, looking for any sign of the others. The only other person she knew for certain would be around here was most likely Chris. She looked around however and didn't see anybody.

"Chris? You here?" She called out to no reply.

She paused and spotted Chris's bag. "Your bag is here, so where are you?"

She looked around, he wasn't around.

She jokingly called out. "You're not _in_ the bag are you?"

It was then she spotted something else. Chris's bag had it's front pouch unzipped, his phone was slightly hanging out and the screen had just lit up, vibrating.

"What do we have here?" She wondered aloud; pondering briefly on her options at the moment. "Maybe I shouldn't snoop around Chris's stuff."

She zipped the bag up, closing the phone off, not looking at the phone.

Just as she straightened up, she heard footsteps and then the familiar voice of Chris.

"Hey, Sam, you made it."

She turned and smiled when she saw him. "Hi Chris."

Chris was dressed for the weather too in a layered light blue jacket over a green commando-style sweater, blue collared shirt, and a white undershirt and simple jeans. He paused briefly before grinning and going to pick up his bag. "Hey, c'mon, got something to show you."

"What?"

"I'm not saying, you gotta come see." He replied with a soft laugh. "Gonna blow your mind."

Rolling her eyes and laughing Sam followed Chris. As they began walking around the back of the cable car station, Sam's eyes were drawn to a defaced wanted poster of a criminal, she was shocked, it seemed the criminal was supposed to live in the nearby area.

"Whoa, have you seen this?" She asked.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, maybe we'll get a visit from America's Most Wanted."

Sighing at his joke she followed him around the back where he revealed what he had found, it was a makeshift shooting range, with bottles set up on various surfaces and stuffed sacks hanging from trees, a rifle was set on the 'table' at the edge of the 'range'.

"Well, what do you think, sweet huh?" Chris commented.

Sam stared with wide-eyes at it. "Sweet isn't the word I'd use, what's a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?"

Chris laughed a little as he picked up the rifle. "Uh, have you met Josh's dad, guy thinks he's Grizzly Adams or something."

Sam just sighed and watched as Chris took aim with the rifle.

Taking careful aim, Chris made short work of shooting several of the sacks and a couple of bottles.

"See." He remarked with a grin.

Sam just laughed and in a faux southern accent replied. "Wow, nice shootin' Tex."

Also laughing Chris smirked. "Alright, I'm bad."

"I'm gonna go more with a wild case of beginner's luck." Sam replied.

Chris gladly took up the challenge. "Oh no, watch this."

With that he casually no-scoped a bottle.

Sam shrugged before teasingly replying. "Well, anyone and their brother could hit a bottle that big, that close."

Chris laughed again and took aim one more time. He stopped for a moment however as he saw, one of the drums on which a bottle had been set now had a squirrel sitting on it, eating a small pile of nuts.

' _Where did that little guy come from, okay, that removes that target, no way am I even aiming that way.'_ He thought to himself. _'Doubly so with Sam here, given how much of an animal lover she is.'_

So he instead aimed for the furthest away sack and took the shot, striking. Sam smiled and applauded lightly as the squirrel ran off, unharmed.

"Hey, c'mon, there's our ride." She said as she spotted the cable car on its way down.

Chris turned to her. "I've almost got the hang of this."

She shook her head. "C'mon Chris, the cable car, the others are likely waiting."

Chris sighed but agreed and together they made their way back to the cable car station.

After some trouble due to it being locked, but Chris thankfully knowing where the key was, they entered and waited for the cable car to arrive, once it did they both got on and sat down. As the car began taking them up to their destination Chris smiled.

"Just like going to the prom." He quipped. "Man, it's gonna be so weird seeing everyone again."

Sam nodded with a sigh. "Tell me about it...everything just came rushing back, and...Josh seemed quite excited about the thought of us all doing something together here. I wonder if he..."

"Hey, no, he was seriously psyched for this, I can tell." Chris replied. "I haven't seen him this amped up in like...forever."

"Yeah..." Sam replied softly.

There was a pause as they rode in silence for a moment. Then Chris broke it.

"Hey, you know how I met Josh?" He queried, when Sam shook her head he continued. "Alright, it was back in third grade. Josh sat at the back of the room, I sat at the front, neither of us had any idea the other existed. But one day, the kid next to Josh started strap snapping the training bra of the girl in the seat in front. So he got moved down to the front and I got moved to the back."

Sam raised an eyebrow before prompting. "And…?"

"And next to Josh; that's how we met and became friends, to this day."

Sam laughed. "A match made in heaven."

Chris shrugged. "If it weren't for the fact that Jeannie Simmons hit puberty like, three years early and on that day decided to wear a low-cut shirt that showed off her training bra. I mean who knows? You could be riding in this cable car alone. Right now, or talking to some other person entirely. Boom, _Butterfly Effect._ "

Sam nodded slowly, seeing Chris's point. It certainly helped her feel more at ease, anything could happen, the best bet was to go with the flow and make the most of it.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	3. Chapter 1 – Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 1 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – Part 2: Familiar Faces**

 _Blackwood Pines; Cable Car Upper Station_

 _Time: 21:17 (Ten Hours Until Dawn)_

Meanwhile, waiting by the upper cable car station, watching the snow that billowed through the night, was Jessica Riley. She now wore her hair in two dutch braids fastened with indigo hair-ties and was clad in a stone blue casual parka jacket, wearing under it a purple top over a plain ivory-white undershirt and also wore plain denim jeans.

she also had dark pink nail polish and wore a simple band on her finger. She was sitting, simply passing time on her phone when she heard the cable car arriving and stood up, smiling as she muttered to herself.

"Ah excellent, more people, time to play meet and greet."

She began walking towards the doors when suddenly she heard a loud thump from them, making her gasp and leap back. It was then she saw Chris and Sam, leaning against the glass.

"Hey, Jess."

She raised an eyebrow at their antics. "Um, are you guys having a weird stroke or something?"

Sam was the one who replied. "We're stuck in the here, the door won't open, can you help us? Pretty please."

Jess smiled softly and reached out to press the button on the door controls, opening the doors and allowing them both to stumble out.

"You guys..." She muttered.

Chris shook his head and began remarking playfully. "Oh Thank God, any longer in there I was afraid I was gonna have to chew my own leg off."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Gross, Chris."

He just laughed, as did Jess.

There was a brief pause, during which Chris noticed Jess holding a letter of sorts. His curiosity got the better of him and with a playful sound effect, he swiped the letter from her hand.

"Hey, Chris!" She cried out.

He just grinned as he read the note, stepping back out of her reach. "Well, what have we here, oh my?"

Sam shook her head. "Chris come on."

"It seems our dear Miss Jess has some major feelings for our dear class Prez, Mike." Chris remarked. "And what kind of sizzling erotica could Jess be dreaming up I wonder."

Jess crossed her arms and shook her head before replying. "Actually, Mike and I are together now, so there."

Chris and Sam shared a look at that.

"Wow, drama..." Chris remarked.

Jess shook her head, clearly having heard things like that so many times. "No, it's pretty clear cut actually. Emily's out, I'm in, that's all, now...my letter."

Chris shrugged casually and handed it back, before turning to Sam who had moved over to the railing by the cliff edge, smiling widely.

"Wow, have you seen this view, I mean, we've been here several times but..." She trailed off and laughed. "When have we ever stopped to really take it all in."

Chris nodded in agreement.

Finally Chris turned to the girls. "We should really get going, before we freeze out here."

Jess shook her head however. "You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna wait here for a while, see if I catch any of the others."

"Waiting for Mike?" Chris teased good-naturedly.

"What?" Jess gasped, before recovering and shaking her head. "Oh, you know, whoever."

Chris laughed and together he and Sam continued onwards.

* * *

 _Blackwood Pines Mountain Path_

 _Time: 21:24 (Ten Hours until Dawn)_

Walking up the path that would lead them up to the lodge, having passed the main gate, were two figures, a male and a female. The male was carrying a lot of bags while the female walked by his side, shaking her head.

"Honestly, they couldn't have built the lodge right where the ski lift ends." She said.

Matt rolled his eyes as he turned to his girlfriend Emily. "Don't think it would have been as romantic."

Stifling a laugh at his quip she gestured around. "And where's the bellboy when you need one?"

Matt laughed a little at this and they continued to walk, heading towards a covered wooden bridge that would take them across to the next part of the path.

Emily sighed and shook her head. "I'm getting chills..."

Matt raised an eyebrow at that, they had both dressed up reasonably well for the weather. He was in gray track pants and a light cobalt-blue Letterman jacket over a light jean jacket, and a gray turtleneck.

Emily was wearing a white blouse underneath a ribbed dark gray turtleneck and a black leather jacket with fur trim. She also wore black jeans and snow boots with fur trim. She had black nail polish along with a few rings adorning her fingers.

"We're nearly there." He said, trying to sound reassuring.

Emily looked at him strangely, before her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Ah, no, I mean...it's been so long since we were last here and, after what happened last time…"

Matt also realized now what she meant and nodded. "Ah, yeah, I see...Well, hopefully we'll find some closure this time around."

Emily smiled lightly, hoping he was right.

They had just reached the end of the bridge when suddenly a figure leapt out and yelled at them. Matt nearly dropped the bags, half-crouching defensively, Emily leapt back, screaming.

The figure began to laugh and they finally saw who it was. It was a familiar young man clad in a flannel jacket underneath a dark blue padded vest, a white tank top undershirt, and a pair of jeans.

"You guys..." He said, still laughing. "You should see your faces."

Emily was not impressed. "Michael!"

Shaking his head Matt groaned. "Dude, I almost clocked you."

"C'mon guys, lighten up, we're in a spooky mountain forest, middle of the night, snow everywhere." Mike explained. "I'm just trying to get in the spirit of things."

Emily let out an exasperated sigh. "Spirit of things, really?"

Mike groaned. "Oh come on, Em, don't be like this."

"Like what?" She queried, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Like that, right now." Mike replied. "The way you're always being."

Emily looked affronted by this statement, Matt bit his lip, pondering.

Finally he spoke up. "Look, Mike, I'm just gonna lay it out, otherwise this whole weekend's gonna suck ass for everyone. Um, this is super awkward, and we all know it. Let's just, uh, acknowledge it now and move on. Okay? "

Emily shook her head. "Matt-"

"I hear you man." Mike replied calmly. "I get it, I don't wanna make this weird."

Matt nodded, relaxing. "Cool, so we're good?"

"All good."

There was a brief pause after this, as they took a moment to relax.

Emily couldn't resist and jokingly queried.

"You, guys gonna make out now?"

Laughing Mike responded in a mocking effeminate voice. "Oh my God, totally, we're so gonna make out!"

Laughing a bit more he cleared his throat.

"Uh...no." He replied in his normal voice. "Seriously, I'm gonna go check on the cable car back down the trail."

So, after saying farewell to them, Mike walked back down the trail. Matt preparing to continue up the trail to the lodge. Emily glanced back for a moment and bit her lip.

"Oh crap." She muttered, sounding annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

She turned to Matt. "Um, could you...take these up to the lodge for me?"

"What, the bags?" He replied, a little surprised.

She nodded. "Yeah, I...kinda need to, go and, talk to Sam. I was supposed to speak to her before we got up to the lodge."

Matt was a little confused. "It _really_ can't wait, we're almost there?"

"I know, just, Matt, please…?" She practically pleaded.

Sighing Matt smiled. "Alright, no trouble, I'll pack-horse these the rest of the way up, then you owe me one?"

"Excuse me?" Emily challenged with an amused tone in her voice.

Matt shrugged. "Or we could say we're even?"

Laughing lightly and beginning to make her way back, Emily replied. "I'll think about it."

With that she headed back down the path while Matt continued onwards, carrying the bags.

* * *

 _Blackwood Pines: Mountain Observation Deck_

 _Time: 21:32 (Ten Hours until Dawn)_

The small wooden platform jutting out from the trail that formed the observation deck was occupied by just one person. That figure was dressed warmly in a striped reddish-pink beanie, a light bluish gray hoodie worn over a long-sleeved red shirt, blue jean shorts and dark leggings finished the outfit. Additionally she wore a pair of red-striped fingerless gloves a green rectangular ring on her right middle finger, and a silver locket.

"Whoa..." The girl, who was in fact Ashley, whispered to herself as she straightened up a little.

Ashley was busy checking out the scenery through the tourist binoculars set up on the deck, usually people had to pay to use things like this, but this one was free. She resumed her observations through the binoculars when she spotted something.

"Hello..." She muttered. _'Someone is getting friendly, and not in the friend-zone kinda way.'_

She was surprised as she had just spotted Mike and Emily, apparently flirting with each other, they were certainly close. Too close for a relationship that had ended in break-up.

Seeing this Ashley shook her head. _'Maybe they need to check the expiration date on their big break-up.'_

She was actually surprised, given how public and 'over the top' said break up had been, that there was even a chance for lingering feelings to 'complicate' matters.

She bit her lip and began to zoom out with the binoculars when Matt leapt up practically in front of her, causing her to see his face, magnified. She screamed and leapt back, as he laughed.

"Whoa..."

She shook her head. "God, Oh my God, Matt."

He shook his head, approaching as she put a hand to her chest, trying to calm her thumping heart.

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry Ashley." He said. "I didn't mean to scare you. Well, not 'scare you' scare, just, give you a little jump."

She lightly hit his chest as she spoke through gritted teeth. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh..."

As she began calming down however, what Matt said next panicked her again.

"So, what are you looking at, can I see?" He asked, gesturing to the binoculars.

Ashley froze, a sudden debate springing in her mind. A clash between being honest and truthful, or deceiving Matt, if only to spare his feelings. If he saw Mike and Emily, she shuddered at the thought.

In the end she made up her mind. "Um, it's busted actually, you can't...really see anything."

Matt quirked an eyebrow at that. "Huh, for real, c'mon, I bet I could find, like, a cool bear chowing down on a fox or something."

Ashley persisted, worried about there being a possible fight if Matt saw what she had seen.

"No, seriously Matt, don't strain your eyes." She said quickly. "I'm, getting a headache just trying to see through it there."

Matt seemed perplexed by this, but then shrugged and accepted before returning to pick up the bags and resuming his journey up the trail, inviting Ashley to join him. While his back was turned, Ashley sneaked a glance through the binoculars, confirming that Mike and Emily were indeed no longer near each other, before following Matt up to the lodge.

* * *

 _Blackwood Pines; Cable Car Upper Station_

 _Time: 21:41 (Ten Hours Until Dawn)_

Jess sighed as she continued to wait by the upper cable car station. After absently sitting twiddling her thumbs for a moment she decided to pass the time picking up her book. She picked it up and began to read. She hadn't read more than half a page when suddenly a snowball impacted on the wall next to her. She let out a startled yelp.

"You did not just do that." She remarked.

Mike laughed and put on a mock southern accent. "Surrender and come out with your hands where we can see them, we got you surrounded."

He bent down to form a snowball and Jess, thinking quickly grabbed an already prepared snowball from the nearby railing. She made her way towards the steps leading down to the small clearing.

"Oh, but what am I, a supple young rebel girl to do...other than surrender to the strapping military commander come to take me into custody?" She replied in a similar accent.

Mike smirked and stepped forwards, she took her chance to throw the snowball, hitting him and making him yell out startled.

"Gotcha!" She cried, darting for cover at a nearby picnic bench and table.

Mike shook his head, throwing the snowball he held. "Nice try!"

"Oh snap."

Jess ducked just in time to dodge it. They both took cover, grabbing fresh snowballs.

Mike laughed and called out teasingly.

"Where are you, kitty?"

Jess grinned. "You're mine, Mike!"

She leapt out and threw her snowball, striking Mike again, laughing she moved, dodging again and getting another snowball. She peeked out, Mike was hiding behind a tree, nearby was a bird. She paused for a moment. She knew if she threw a snowball at the bird, it would startle Mike out of his hiding place.

' _But then I won't have a snowball to use on him...Plus, poor bird, it doesn't deserve that.'_ She reflected.

So she abstained, allowing the bird to fly away and when Mike leapt out, she dodged the snowball he threw and threw hers, striking him again.

"I'm gonna get you."

Jess shook her head, trying to form another snowball, but then she was tackled and lay on her back, with Mike kneeling above her, grinning.

"You're done!" He called out with a laugh. "Done city!"

Laughing in response, Jess replied. "Wow, so, did I go down?"

Mike raised an eyebrow. "I think you did well enough, Miss Jess the snowball queen."

"Okay that sounds vaguely dirty." She commented.

They both laughed and then, after a slightly longer paused, they kissed deeply. They parted at last and Jess gasped.

"Whoa, save some for later buddy."

Mike just grinned. "Endless reserves."

She nodded before replying. "We should probably get going, the others are waiting, or we could just stay out here."

"I would gladly stay out here, provided I was making out with you the whole time." Mike said calmly as he helped her up.

"Just making out?" Jess queried.

Mike shrugged and replied jokingly. "Quote, unquote."

Rolling her eyes Jess added. "We'd probably die somewhere between those quotes."

Together they proceeded onwards, finally heading up to the lodge to join the others.

* * *

End of chapter and of chapter 1, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	4. Chapter 2 – Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 2 part 1 of my Until Dawn Novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Part 1: Wandering in Darkness**

 _Therapy Session_

Dr. Hill was standing by his window again, looking out. The figure had returned to the office, this time for a late night appointment, they were seated at the desk, listening to the sounds of classical music filling the room. Dr. Hill then turned and walked over to the desk, turning on a lamp, so that more than moonlight now filled the room. He sat down and picked up his clipboard again.

Smiling broadly he greeted the figure. "Hello again, and how are we feeling?"

The figure shrugged and nodded lightly, indicating they were fine.

"It seems we hardly scratched the surface in our last session." The doctor remarked. "So let's go a bit deeper this time…This time, we're going to try and understand the root of your anxiety."

The figure bit their lip, but nodded, suddenly uneasy. Dr. Hill reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small book which he then tossed onto the desk, in front of the figure.

"Now, pick up that book and turn the pages. You will see a set of pictures and symbols, set up in pairs. I want you to identify which image in each set makes you the most...anxious."

With that he picked up and readied his pen, the figure picked up the book and opened it to the first pages.

The figure observed the images on the first pages, a man and a woman and realized what was being asked. He picked the man and turned the page. He continued to do this, making choices and turning the pages, glancing up now and then to see Dr. Hill writing down notes on his clipboard. The choices made were things like planes, drowning, snakes, guns, cockroaches, scarecrows and gore. Suddenly the figure jumped as Dr. Hill slammed his hand down on the desk.

"Oh, did I startle you?" The Doctor queried rhetorically before smiling. "you're doing very well... don't be nervous... "  
He then pulled out the metronome and set it ticking.

He then spoke again. "Try to... speed up a bit. The more you rely on your instincts, the more honest your answers will be and the more enlightening you will find this experience."

With that the figure nodded and began picking more options as they turned through the pages, simply going on pure instinct. When they finally finished, Dr. Hill nodded, stopping the ticking of the metronome with his pen.

"This is very interesting, thank you, for answering so...diligently." He said before listing off what had been noted as the figure's main fears. "Cockroaches, scarecrows and offal."

He paused for a moment before laughing softly. "That's some combination, sounds like a good Friday night."

The doctor then checked his watch.

"Ah, well I'm afraid, once again we're out of time. But, I promise we will talk again very soon." He explained,

Nodding again, the figure stood up and left as Dr. Hill stood up and walked to the window again, casually staring out of it.

* * *

 _Washington Ski Lodge, Exterior_

 _Time: 22:00 (Nine hours until dawn)_

Now standing just outside the lodge, along with Sam, Chris fought to catch his breath from the climb. They weren't alone either, they had been met outside the lodge Josh himself.

"Boy, every time I climb this mountain it feels bigger." Chris remarked."

"Oh yeah?" Josh queried, raising an eyebrow. "It feels the same to me."

Like the others Josh was dressed up against the cold weather in a pair of jeans, a knit wool beanie, black boots and a sleeveless puffer jacket, under said jacket he was wearing a dark brown shirt underneath a flat-collared blue and white plaid-styled unbuttoned shirt.

Chris laughed at Josh's comment and replied. "C'mon, you practically grew up here, it, it probably feels like it's shrinking."

"Maybe." Josh conceded with a wry laugh.

He nodded in greeting to Sam who smiled back and the trio made their way further up, heading towards the front steps of the lodge. As they walked Chris pulled out his phone and shook his head.

"Man, when are you gonna get some cell towers installed up here, I'm getting withdrawals already."

Josh smirked and joked. "You got a spare million lying around and I'll fix you right up."

Laughing Chris pretended to pat down his pockets. "Funny you should say that...Ah, I think I left it in my other jacket."

"Oops." Josh quipped, playing along.

They walked up to the foot of the lodge, Ashley was already there, seated on the steps and Matt stood nearby.

"Hey gang." Josh greeted enthusiastically. "You guys get up here okay?"

Matt grinned, stepping forward a little.

"Coulda done with some bellboys." He remarked flippantly. "But hey, can't get everything."

Ashley nodded as she too spoke up. "Yeah, it was pretty easy, a little creepy though...I mean, it's just really weird being back here."

They all nodded and Matt and Sam moved a little further down the path, Sam going as far as the gate and leaning on it. Ashley remained seated on the stairs while Chris and Josh approached the door, out of range of all of their hearing, heavy breathing filtered through the trees as they were watched.

Chris bounded up the last few steps to join Josh on the front porch.

"Yo, yo, yo!" He cried out excitedly. "Are we gonna get things moving up here or what?"

"Yeah man!" Josh replied, just as enthusiastic.

There was however a slight edge to his voice that Chris noticed.

He began to feel concerned. "Hey...you doin' alright, I mean, it must be really tough without your sis-"

"Stop."

Silently cursing himself Chris tried to recover. "I just meant that-"

"No, I know what you meant." Josh said reassuringly. "You know, seriously, I'm over it, and I just want us to have a really good time, you know? Like we always used to."

Chris nodded, feeling relieved and waited as Josh attempting to unlock the door.

"Dammit, this freaking thing." He muttered angrily.

Chris stepped forwards, raising an eyebrow. "It's iced?"

"What else?"

Thinking for a moment, Chris then made a suggestion. "Maybe there's another way in."

Josh shrugged and stated. "There are a million ways in, they're just all locked."

"There's gotta be, like, a window round the can get, like, get open, or something." Chris said in reply, not to be discouraged.

Josh turned to look at him incredulous. "Wait a second, are you saying we should break in?"

Chris shook his head, stammering slightly. "I don't think it's technically breaking in if you own the place, right?"

"Hey, not if I don't report you." Josh replied, laughing at Chris' unease to show he was joking before speaking again. "Lead the way, Cochise."

Chris just sighed and turned, starting to head down the steps.

On the way down he stopped and turned to Ashley, biting his lip as his heart suddenly sped up, he couldn't deny she looked nice, even all bundled up against the cold..

"Hey Ash..." He greeted somewhat awkwardly.

She smiled and returned his greeting. "Hi Chris."

He thought briefly before replying. "So...how're you doing?"

"Mm...good." She replied with a slight shrug. "But, a little cold. I think I could use some time curled up by the fire."

Chris smiled gently at that. "Yeah, that does sound pretty nice."

She also smiled at that and Chris stepped down, seeing his expression Josh nodded and waited while Chris went to talk to Matt. It had, after all, been a whole year since the two of them had seen each other.

"Matt, been a while!" Chris greeted before saying jokingly. "You look all weird without your helmet and jersey."

Matt shrugged, replying blandly. "Yeah, been a tough one, good to see you."

This left Chris a little uncomfortable, out of all the friends in the group, Matt was the one he had the hardest time talking too. Nevertheless he did his best to be friendly.

"So, how's it hangin'?"

Thankfully Matt brightened up a little at that. "Pretty good man, can't complain! You?"

Shrugging and smiling Chris answered. "Oh, you know, same ol', same ol'."

Matt nodded and, seeing Sam trying to get his attention, Chris excused himself and walked over to her.

Once he reached her Sam asked him suddenly.

"So, you seen Ash yet?"

"Ummm, yeah?" He replied, taken aback.

Nodding, Sam continued. "Cool, cool...how's uh, how's she doing?"

Her tone and even the questions themselves confused Chris. "She's...fine, why?"

"Oh, no reason." Sam replied, turning so Chris couldn't see the knowing smile on her face.

Shrugging at this, Chris turned back and went to join Josh again, they began to walk along the path at the side of the lodge, looking to go around it and see if they could find a way in. Once out of earshot of the others however, Josh turned to Chris grinning.

"Ashley was looking pretty hot today, right?" He teased his friend. "She's like a 'sleeper hit' kinda gal, you know?"

Chris paused startled and a little uneasy.

Josh's next comment made him even more so. "Now I just wanna rip that parka right off her and...make some snow angels, right?"

"H-hey, cut it out, man-" Chris protested, a little startled.

Josh just laughed and held up his hands. "I mean, if you don't wanna bang her, maybe...Mike'll take up the case."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "W-Will you back off already?"

Josh simply laughed, shaking his head and gently eased Chris.

"Relax man, I'm just...checking to see if there's some blood flowin' down there." He stated jokingly.

Chris shook his head, exasperated. "Yeah..."

There was a brief pause, before Josh sighed.

Josh decided he had to emphasize his point, while doing what he could to boost his best friend's confidence.

"Listen dude. Look around you. Look at these beautiful mountains. Do you see any parents? I mean can you imagine a more perfect, ripe scenario, just dripping with erotic possibilities?" He stated, announcing. "You, and Ashley, alone at last... You've laid all the groundwork, you've been a perfect gentleman. Now you come in for the kill!"

Chris smiled lightly and sighed. "Maybe you're right."

Josh grinned and added. "You are a hunter bro. No fear, no mercy, I mean, she won't even know what hit her."

They both laughed at that.

"Alright, alright, I got it. Jeez." Chris replied, holding up a hand.

Satisfied Josh nodded and together they resumed their search, as they did so Josh queried.

"So, how are we planning on breaking into my parents' lodge, bud?"

Chris grimaced lightly. "Wait, I didn't say _I_ had a plan-"

"You sounded like you had a plan." Josh replied; before joking. "You better deliver, Cochise, or else you got four lovely ladies who are gonna be freezing their buns off and last time I checked, that's not a good way to get laid."

"Well shoot, nobody likes cool buns." Chris shot back.

Both boys laughed as they continued.

As they walked, Chris stopped as he noticed something, at the side of the lodge was a holder for a fire axe, but the glass was broken and the axe, disturbingly, missing.

"Hmmm..." Chris muttered, biting his lip.

Josh nodded. "Don't worry about that, it's been missing for ages."

Chris nodded, reassured and then, just to his right, he saw it, just what he needed. There was a window he could see that was unlocked, and nearby was a cabinet that could be moved underneath the window, with a bit of elbow grease. He gestured to the cabinet, drawing Josh's attention and he moved to shove it.

Josh went to the other end and took hold. "Well, well, well, we got ourselves a thinker, nice one."

Working together they moved the cabinet beneath the window, Chris then climbed up and nearly overbalanced.

"Whoa..." He muttered, but managed to right himself.

Nodding to Josh he pulled open the window. Looking through he could see it led to the garage. He began to climb through the window, only to tumble unceremoniously, landing on the floor with a yelp. Groaning he lay there as Josh climbed the cabinet quickly and held onto the windowsill, looking down.

"Ugh, I'm okay." Chris replied quickly. "I should have paid more attention in climbing class..."

Josh looked a little perplexed by that. "Uh...you mean 'gym'?"

Standing up Chris nodded. "Yeah, you know, with the climbing up the rope-"

His words were cut short when, with a loud pop, the light bulb smashed, plunging the room into darkness.

Chris looked around startled, Josh was surprised too.

"Whoa?" He gasped.

Suddenly feeling awkward Chris looked up to just. "Uh, did I do that?"

"I don't...I don't, think so." Josh replied; before pulled out and throwing a lighter to Chris. "Here, use this."

Chris caught it and ignited it, providing him with at least some light to see by. Looking at the lighter Josh's eyes widened and he grinned.

"Whoa, Chris, I just got an awesome idea." He said quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Totally."

Chris nodded. "Well, what is it?"

Josh began explaining. "Okay. So. I am PRETTY sure that I've got deodorant in one of the bathrooms... you could use THAT with the LIGHTER..."

"I don't...I don't follow." Chris replied, shaking his head. "How's a stick of deodorant gonna help?"

Josh looked amused as he replied. "Spray on, it's a can."

Realization dawned on Chris. "Oh, yeah, now I gotcha."

"Flamethrower."

Chris grinned. "Just like we do with the lil' army dudes."

Josh grinned as he too recalled the fun they had, torching the plastic army men.

"Yup, the ones we melted." He said with a grin. "Just point the spray-can at the lighter then...FWOOSH."

"Bye-bye frozen lock."

"Bingo, alright so you got this." Josh remarked, he glanced back to the front of the lodge. "I'm gonna go sort something out. You up for hunting around in the dark a little bit?"

Chris sighed but shrugged. "Nope, but I'll do it."

"Godspeed pilgrim." Josh shot back with a John Wayne impression.

Josh then jumped down from the cabinet, out of sight, leaving to Chris to wander the dark alone.

Chris began making his way through the lodge, looking around, remembering so many things from the previous trips here. Some things stood out, catching his eye, namely a newspaper fragment about an arrested convict with a grudge against Josh's parents.

He couldn't deny that worried him, especially in light of recent findings, such as the wanted poster and missing axe. This was despite Josh's assurances.

' _Well, what do we have here, huh...'_ He thought to himself, but stopped.

He smiled wistfully as, on his way up to the main floor, he spotted a family portrait, showing all the Washingtons, including Hannah and Beth. Just then he jumped as he heard a strange noise.

"Huh, what the hell was that?" He muttered.

Anxiously he continued onwards, opening the door and entering the main part of the house. In the main hall he continued to look around. He stopped by the front door, glancing out the small window, he could see Sam and Ashley standing just outside, talking together. Smirking at the chance for a small prank, he ducked out of sight. Sam and Ashley stood talking together, when suddenly, from inside.

"WOOOooOOooooOOO!"

They both jumped, but immediately recovered, recognizing the voice.

"Hi Chris, very funny." Sam remarked at once, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

Chris let out a small groan. "How'd you know it was me?"

Sam just pointed out. "Shouldn't you be, like, getting the lock open or something?"

"On it!"

With that Chris resumed his journey through the house, it was clear the power was gone in the whole place now, not just the garage.

His journey through the house, interrupted by him looking around, lost in memories, led him to some strange things, such as a rather unsettling answer phone message. It seemed the wanted man he had heard about was released from prison not too long ago and was on the loose.

The message had been from a police officer, warning Josh's mother.

Other things were less worrying and produced pleasant sights, a picture of Hannah, Emily, Mike and Sam at prom, a picture of Josh, Hannah and Beth at the beach and finally a film trophy Josh's dad had won. Chris actually remembered it, he had gone with the Washingtons to the ceremony where it was won.

' _Wow, feels like so long ago...so many memories.'_ Chris thought to himself; before shaking himself out of complacency. _'Okay, stop dawdling Chris, you got a lock to heat up.'_

Quickly recovering he made his way through to the bathroom. He immediately went to and opened the cabinet beneath the sink and saw the deodorant can in front of him. Smiling he went to take it, just as his hand closed around it a furry, sharp toothed creature leapt from the cabinet with a roar and ran from the room.

"AHHH, SON OF A-!" Chris cried out in shock and alarm as he fell to the ground.

Recovering he stood, staring out of the door. "What the fuck!"

He blinked and then looked down, he still had the can. "Ahh, perfect."

He picked up the lighter and lit it again and made his way back to the front door.

Waiting outside the girls did their best to stay warm against the cold.

All the same, Ashley couldn't help but complain. "We're freezing our buns off out here!"

It was then they spotted Chris through the glass as he got to work, using the deodorant and lighter to burn the ice off the lock. He put the items aside and opened the door, the handle was still hot, making him wince but he recovered well and gave a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week-" He joked making the girls roll their eyes.

Suddenly at that moment, the creature from the bathroom darted out through the door, startling Chris and the girls, Chris more so.

"EEEK!" He cried out, not in a very manly way. "Jeez!"

Sam and Ashley laughed at that while Chris shook his head, trying to recover.

"Crap that thing freaked me out." He muttered.

"What was it, are you okay?" Ashley asked, concerned.

Shrugging Chris shook his head. "It was like a bear or a tiger or something."

"Aw..." Sam replied in a cutesy tone. "It was just a cute little baby wolverine."

"Baby?" Chris shot back incredulously.

Josh had, by this point, reached the top of the stairs, with Matt just behind him.

"Don't worry buddy, you're gonna be a big boy soon." He teased.

Chris just groaned and the five of them finally entered the lodge.

Entering the darkened lodge, Josh smiled widely as he gestured widely.

"Home, sweet home."

Matt shook his head, a little creeped out by the lodge in darkness. "Sweet is not the word I'd use."

Ashley shivered and blew on her hands. "Oh my gosh, it's SO GOOD to be inside. Even if it's still kinda freezing in here."

"I'll get a fire going." Josh offered happily.

He knelt down by the fireplace and began setting up the fire. Meanwhile, Sam moved over to the stairs leading to the upper floor, sitting down on them, let out a relaxed sigh. Matt looked around at the lodge.

"This place barely looks any different." He noted.

"Nobody's been up here." Josh replied with a shrug.

Ashley turned at that, a little surprised. "Even with all the police coming in and out?"

Josh nodded and Chris clarified.

"Not a lot of action up here lately."

Josh nodded in agreement. "Nope."

Chris and Ashley walked over to join Sam, although they simply remained standing by the stairs. Chris checked his watch and couldn't help but notice how long it had taken for all of this, it was now 22:28.

He couldn't help but note that most of that time was spent by him searching the lodge while preparing to open the door. Nevertheless, they were all inside now, just waiting for the others to arrive, Matt remained by the fireplace while Josh continued to work on setting up and lighting the fire.

It was at that moment that Mike and Jessica entered the lodge, Mike grinned as he called out.

"What's up party people!"

Jess had an equal grin as she also greeted everyone. "Heeey!"

Josh greeted them enthusiastically; as did the others and Ashley was relieved that she had stopped Matt seeing Mike and Emily earlier, he seemed relaxed and greeted Mike as calmly as ever. Mike and Jess sat down on the sofa and immediately began making out as Emily walked in.

She took one look and instantly felt her anger spike and, glaring she snarked.

"Oh my god. That is so gross. Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

All eyes turned to her, especially Mike and Jess, with Jess glaring at Emily's comment.

"Em..." Matt called out warningly, worried she was about to start something again.

Emily however turned to him and shook her head. "Seriously can she be any more obvious? No one wants in on your territory, honey."

Jess stood up and turned to face her. "Excuse me, did you say something?"

"Oh, did you not hear me?" Emily shot back. "Was your sluttiness too loud?"

The others all shared a worried glance, it was hard to believe these two girls had been best friends only a year ago.

Jess however responded to Emily's insult with a superior smirk.

"Sounds like someone's bitter she didn't make the cut." She taunted.

Unmoved Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow."

With a short, disparaging laugh, Jess shot back. "Cuts real deep calling Miss Homecoming a cow."

Trying to stand up for Emily Matt spoke up.

"H-hey, you're making everyone uncomfortable, Jess."

"Jealous much?" Jess taunted him. "Emily too frigid for you too?"

Matt stepped back, a little taken aback. "Hey, that's...uncalled for, look-"

Jess simply waved her hand, everybody watched was unsure if they should step in or not; Mike especially. Although Josh seemed to be having the hardest time, grinding his teeth and no longer even trying to light the fire.

"Whatever..." Jess remarked dismissively to both Matt and Emily. "I don't give a crap what you think."

But Emily would not let it lie. "At least I can think. 4.0, bitch, honour roll. Suck on that when you're trying to sleep your way into a job."

It was clear things were getting more and more heated, which worried the others even more. But none of them could see a way to intervene without things getting even further out of hand.

"Who needs grades when you've got all the natural advantages you can handle?" Jess replied with a smirk as she gestured to her body.

"Oh please..." Emily muttered darkly.

Jess merely shook her head, her smirk and superior look growing, clearly intending to once again take things further.

She opened up by snarking at Emily, once more acting as if she had the advantage.

"You couldn't buy a mouldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass."

"Are you serious?" Emily shot back; almost laughing. "Do you think that's insulting?"

Jess turned to Mike, pointing at Emily. "That bitch is on crack or something."

"Jessica, you need to shut your mouth, okay?" Matt cut in before Mike could even respond.

Jess rounded on him, glaring that he would dare respond this way. "No, you're the one who needs to keep your nose out of other people's business!"

Emily took this very personally, stepping up, almost getting in Jess' face.

"I'm about to get right up in your business you bitch-"

Jess turned to her and finished closing the gap as she growled. "Are we about to get real? Cause I am down to get real!"

It was clear to all that a fight was about to break out between the two girls. But Josh wasn't having it.

"STOP IT!" He yelled, standing up and glaring. "This is not why we came up here, this is not...helping. It's not what I wanted."

There was an awkward silence, everybody looking guilty.

He sighed. "If we can't get along for ten minutes, then maybe we need a little bit of a break right? Mike, why don't you check out the guest cabin, the one I told you about."

"Yeah, yeah alright." Mike replied, jumping to his feet, relieved. "Want to go do that?"

Jess turned to him and nodded, firing a parting shot at Emily. "Any place without that whore."

Josh's glare however stopped things going any further.

Once sure they weren't about to start up again Josh gestured towards the rear exit of the lodge.

"it's right up the trail." He said.

Nodding Mike took Jess' hand and they headed out the back. There was a stony silence, during which Emily turned to Matt. He shook his head and imitated his head exploding before sighing.

"Phew, glad that's over!" He remarked at last.

Emily just rolled her eyes and turned to her bags. Josh meanwhile continued to work on the fire.

"Yeah..." He said gently.

Matt shifted awkwardly. "So Josh, uh, should we get this fire going?"

Josh smiled at Matt's awkward attempt to pretend nothing had happened.

"Where's my bag?" Emily asked suddenly.

Everyone tensed at that and Matt turned to her quickly, everybody sensing another drama oncoming.

"Huh?" Matt replied; worried.

"My bag!" She emphasized. "The little bag with the pink pattern. The one I got on Rodeo!"

Silence greeted her and she shook her head.

"Matt are you listening?" She demanded. "Oh my god, don't you remember? Next to the Italian shoe place where I got the stilettos and you knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that girl at the counter?"

Matt quickly walked towards Emily, getting defensive.

"Well, I mean, she was asking about my letter jacket-" He stated quickly.

Emily rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically. "Right, because she gave a shirt about your 'designer' letter jacket."

Matt gave a short gasp as he responded at once. "Why do you hate my jacket?"

"MATT, I need MY BAG!" She shot back, reminding him of the 'real issue' here.

Matt looked around, but everybody was all staying out of it, leaving him to handle things alone.

He tried to reason with her.

"Oh my God, Em, maybe you just forgot it-"

She didn't respond well to that however. "Do you seriously think I'd forget my bag?"

"Well, I-"

Do you?" She demanded.

Matt sighed. "Guess not."

Nodding, satisfied she stated calmly. "You must of left it down by the cable car station."

He let out a groan and she quickly responded.

"C'mon hun, we'll be back soon." She told him.

"And then we can get warm?" He queried, already tired of arguing _and_ freezing his ass off.

She grinned and remarked suggestively. "We can get _very_ warm."

Matt nodded and agreed at last and together they left, preparing to head back to the cable car station.

After a brief, awkward silence as the group of eight found themselves reduced to four, Sam let out a relieved sigh and stood up.

"Okay, I am gonna go take a bath." She stated before turning and climbing the stairs.

The others all nodded, Chris and Ashley moving to sit on the sofa while Josh continued to work on the fire.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	5. Chapter 2 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 2 part 2 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn, or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Part 2: Winter Wonderland Much**

 _Washington Ski Lodge, Exterior_

 _Time: 22:43 (Nine Hours until dawn)_

Exiting the lodge into the frigid night, Mike and Jess stood on the back porch, Jess approached the edge of the porch while Mike sighed.

"Exiled." He stated blandly.

Jess gave him a wicked smile as she joked. "You mean, Sex-iled?"  
He laughed at that. "Works for me."

He approached her as she began rubbing her arms, shivering in the cold.

"Brr...how far is this 'cabin' anyway?" She asked; a sceptical note in her voice.

Laughing Mike wrapped his arms around her and began to explain.

"This cabin, is the cosiest most romantic, love den you will ever lay your eyes upon."

"Psh..." She shook her head, playfully shoving him. "If we ever make it."

Mike shrugged casually, leaning on the balcony ledge. "Oh, I have a feeling luck's on our side."

Laughing at this Jess remarked teasingly. "Play your cards right and maybe you will get lucky."

Mike grinned at that and straightened up, they were both prepared to get going. Just then Josh opened the door and leaned out.

"Hey, porn stars!" He called out to them, throwing something to them. "You're gonna need these."

Jess caught it revealing it was the keys to the cabin.

She raised an eyebrow at Josh's comment however and queried. "Porn star?"

Josh stepped out, laughing. "I'd pay to see it."

"Uh, gross?" She replied; shaking her head.

Josh just laughed again.

He then turned to Mike and sighed.

"Sorry to kick you out like that-" He began.

But Mike just casually waved his hand. "No worries man."

Nodding Josh remarked suggestively. "Oh I'm sure you'll find a way to entertain yourselves."

"Mmm-hmmm." Jess replied, doing her best to ignore his suggestive comment. "Well, you have fun with the peanut gallery."

Laughing Josh mimed a gun shot to the head and began to make his way back inside.

"Oh, almost forgot." He said, stopping suddenly and gesturing. "Gotta fire up the generator so you can see where you're going, it's dark out there."

With that he headed back inside while Mike nodded and prepared to begin. Smirking Jess turned to him and remarked.

"You know, I think Josh was flirting with me."

"Mmkay..." Mike replied before joking. "You want to invite him up with us?"

"Wait really?" Jess replied.

"What?" Mike gasped, shaking his head. "No!"

She just laughed and headed down onto the trail, Mike followed her, pulling out and turning on his flashlight, noting she had stopped. He approached her, confused until she turned, smiling widely as she held out her phone.

"Hey, Hot lips. Photobooth?" She offered.

Laughing eagerly he replied. "Alright, read my mind."

He took the phone and they prepared for a selfie together, he soon took it and Jess took the phone back, examining it.

Jess grinned widely. "Oh my god, this is perfect! We're like, the cutest couple!"

"Damn, you should be a model." Mike replied as he too observed the pictures.

Jess smiled coquettishly. "You keep that camera handy and maybe I'll let you start my portfolio...at the cabin."

"Wink, noted!"

Jess then began to move along the path again.

Walking along she called out.

"Okay, let's go, I've got cabin fever." She paused briefly before rubbing her arms through her jacket again. "Brr, it's freezing out here…!"

"Now that's something I can help you with." Mike told her confidently.

Liking the direction this conversation was going Jess fired back. "And how're you gonna do that!?"

Mike grinned and said cheerfully. "I've got a few things in mind."

As they walked on, heading for the shed where the generator waited, Jess shook her head.

"Emily's as dumb as she looks if she thinks she can cut in on what we got going on." She then lowered her voice, adding vindictively. "Maybe if we're lucky she'll try and follow us out here and get eaten by a bear."

Shrugging Mike casually noted. "I think you bring out the worst in her."

Giggling a little Jess couldn't help but query. "Is that so?"

"Epic jealousy."

Laughing out loud this time she shrugged dismissively. "She can suck it."

Mike entered the generator shed after their little talk and, finding the latch he opened it and, carefully observing the controls he soon flipped the switch and fired it up, turning on the lights."

"Boom, nice one Mikey!"

Jess cheered. "Woo! You are a wizard!"

They headed over to the gate and Mike opened them, together they headed through and began crossing the wooden bridge over the stream.

Deciding to add a little 'mood' to their walk, Jess turned on some music on her phone.

"Pretty good right?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah totally! This is...awesome."

"Awww yeah, I bring the hits." Jess replied enthusiastically. "You psyched yet? You don't looked psyched yet!"

Laughing at her infectious enthusiasm Mike reassured her. "I am so psyched right now!"

"It's a like a little adventure." She continued cheerfully. "a sexcapade."

Mike couldn't help but laugh at that. Although the laughter died away as he and Jess stopped, noticing police tape wrapped around some trees.

"Police tape..." Jess began to question him.

He sighed. "From Hannah and Beth."

Shifting uncomfortably Jess remarked softly. "You'd think they'd clean it up..."

Shrugging Mike explained. "Well, they never closed the investigation."

"Okay, I'm gettin' the creeps now." Jess replied, with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.

Mike nodded slowly; he understood Jess clearly felt guilty about what happened to the Washington sisters.

Doing his best to reassure her, and be respectful he said. "Well, wherever they are...I'm sure they're happy we're all thinking about them."

She smiled gently. "That's...a nice way of thinking about it."

Trying to put the unease behind them, they continued onwards.

It was then two things happened in quick succession which caused them concern. The first was a scream they could hear in the distance, which disturbed both of them. The second was finding a tree blocking their path

"Ah damn." Mike muttered. "I don't think we can get up to the cabin with the path blocked like this-"

Jess shook her head vehemently at that. "Oh no way am I going back to the lodge a.k.a. wax museum to drink hot chocolate with Emily."

As she spoke she began to walk the other way, along a separate for in the path. "You know what? Fuck it. We're adventurous. We will find another way around."

By this time Mike had joined her, they had entered what appeared to be an abandoned mineshaft entrance, with a wooden waist high barrier blocking the way forwards. Jess leaned on it, only for the rotting timbers to break and for her to fall, screaming.

"JESS!" Mike cried out. "Fuck!, Hey, Jessica!"

He darted to the edge to find her standing up, breathing heavily but apparently unharmed.

"Yep!" She called out, turning around. "Hey, I'm okay!"

Mike breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, you scared the heck out of me."

Brushing herself off Jess shot back. "How do you think I felt!"

"Er, you didn't hit your head or anything?" He questioned, still worried.

With an impish grin Jess replied. "As far as I can tell, I still have all seven of my limbs."

"Yeah..." Mike replied with a small laugh at her sexual reference. "Can you get out?"

She looked behind her and bit her lip. "Uhhh, I don't know. I can hardly see anything down here!"

Mike pondered for the smallest of moments, on his course of action.

For Mike, it was a no-brainer.

"Alright, comin' after ya, just stay put!"

With that he jumped down; unaware of the dark clad figure with goggles and a scarf covering his face standing behind him, the same one who had been watching him through the window of the generator shed. Landing on the ground Mike joined Jess who smiled, impressed with his heroism.

"Hey handsome, wanna help me move this cart thing?" She asked playfully, gesturing to the mine cart blocking the path.

"Alright." Mike said and began pushing. "Help me move it, help me move it."

Jess agreed and together they were able to push the cart, although it was still an effort.

"When I imagined us grunting together..." Mike quipped. "This is not what I pictured."

Jess laughed at that and soon they were able to get around the cart and continue their walk through the mine. However it was then they heard a rumble and another mine cart came around the corner, barreling towards them. They both cried out but Mike was able to catch the cart and stop it.

"Holy crap!" Jess screamed. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

Wincing, Mike nodded. "Ah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

They glanced back at the mine carts and hurried onwards.

"Woah nellie, this place is givin' me the willies. And not the good kind of willies." Jess remarked.

Smiling Mike replied. "Can I offer you a little comfort and reassurance?"

Jess just laughed and said. "Save it for the cabin, buster."

They walked onwards.

Mike happened to spot something to the right of them, on a dead end path, he went to examine it, with Jess following, wondering what had piqued his curiosity.

"Huh...stogie." He revealed as he picked up the cigar stub that had been sitting on an oil drum.

Jess arched an eyebrow, confused. "Weird place to hang out and smoke cigars."

Mike also noticed something else. "It's recent, wonder who was up here..."

He trailed off as he put it down, for his flashlight had suddenly illuminated a strange symbol on the wall.

"Whoa, this place is like...historical." He gasped upon seeing it.

Jess too couldn't help but be amazed. "Holy bat cave."

Mike nodded. "It's gotta be Native American, right?"

Jess shrugged and they quickly returned to the path and continued making their way through the mine.

Their trip was uneventful, save for a plank of wood nearly falling on top of them, and the discovery of a map, dated 1952, which showed the place was in danger of structural collapse, all of which certainly made them more edgy.

But to their relief, they finally found their way out of the mine and back onto the path, revealing the cabin in the distance.

Eyeing the cabin Jess let out a low whistle.

"Well, well, when Josh said 'cabin' I thought like, Abe Lincoln." She joked.

Caught up in her mood, Mike replied. "Wait'll you see the Lincoln Bedroom."

"Oh, are you planning to get presidential on me?"

"Wanna take a ride on Air Force One?" Mike joked.

Shaking her head Jess replied. "Alright, alright, save it for the stump speech buddy."

It was then she spotted an observation telescope and hurried over to it excited, looking through it all the while cheerfully muttering to herself.

"Gonna look at the trees... gonna look at the clouds... gonna look at the cabi-... Uh. Whoa."

She stepped back, shocked.

"Y'alright?" Mike asked, concerned.

Jess bit her lip. "I just saw someone at the cabin."

Mike looked through himself but saw nothing. He did his best to reassure Jess it was just them and she reluctantly accepted this before they headed through the nearby gate and onwards down another trail. They hadn't gone far when a bird suddenly jumped out at them, startling Mike.

"Watch out, bird-brain." Jess laughed.

Mike shook his head and offered up, as an excuse. "I was just...answering its mating call."

Laughing even more Jess shot back. "Wow, you're easy."

"Yeah, got a lotta love to give."

Still chuckling Jess continued onwards while Mike muttered to himself.

"I was scared."

They continued until they found yet another tree blocking their path.

Frustrated Mike almost felt like yelling.

"Goddamnit Josh, couldn't you have at least cleared out the path before sending us up here?" He complained to no one in particular.

"Really?" Jess remarked incredulously; explaining when he got confused. "I didn't figure you for the glass half-empty type."

"You got a better idea."

Grinning Jess took a couple of steps back. "Stand back, Debbie Downer."

With that she run up to the tree and vaulted up, climbing to the top of the fallen tree trunk.

"Oh boooo!", Show off." Mike remarked in response.

"Hey Mike." Jess said, standing up straight. "You got something on your face."

Mike reached up to his face then Jess suddenly threw a snowball, hitting him square in the face.

"Boom!" She cried out.

"Okay, okay?" Mike said as he recovered, making his own snowball. "Well, if that's how it's gonna be."

He turned around, ready to throw, only to find Jessica gone from the tree trunk.

"Jess?"

Suddenly he heard a scream, a scream he instantly recognized.

"Jess!?"

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	6. Chapter 2 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 2 part 3 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Oh yeah, just wait, there's more to this than it seems :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: LOL, glad you liked it :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Part 3: Boilers and Monks**

 _Washington Ski Lodge, Interior_

 _Time: 22:44 (Nine Hours until dawn)_

Back at the Washington Ski Lodge, Sam was upstairs in the bathroom, adjusting the taps at the bathtub and shaking her head. She checked the water with her hand, sighed and adjusted the taps some more.

"Sammy!" Josh suddenly called up from back in the main room.

She straightened up and called back. "Whaaaaat?"

"You wanna help me get this fire going?"

She bit her lip and casually admitted. "Ummm, well, I was just getting into the bath-"

There was a brief pause before Josh replied teasingly. "Oh! Well, do you need any help with that?"

"Hardy har." Sam groaned in reply, rolling her eyes and sighing.

She tried the taps again and checked the water, she was turning on the hot tap, but getting no hot water.

"Come on." She muttered; before sighing. "Alright Josh, let's see if you know how to hook up the hot water in your big fancy lodge."

She turned and left the bathroom; pausing briefly as she looked to her left. There was a door that had clearly been closed for quite some time. Despite knowing who the room belonged to and why it was closed, Sam couldn't help herself.

She walked over and entered Hannah's room. She looked around, the place hadn't been touched since the disappearance of the girls. Looking around the room, Sam began to notice a few things that stood out, a postcard, a card about a tattoo shop, Sam remembered Hannah getting that tattoo.

Continuing her exploration she noticed that a whole noticeboard on her wall, with everything being about Mike, a picture of Mike pinned to it, underneath a party invitation written by him.

"Gee Hannah...crush much?" She muttered

Look around she spotted something else, a piece of paper on the floor, she picked it up. It was a romance compatibility test, with a very unsatisfying results; no doubt her hoping to find out about her chances with Mike.

She shook her head. "Hello, could this be any more about Mike?"

Shaking her head she left Hannah's room, returning to the matter at hand.

Making her way across the upper floor, onto the balcony that led to the stairs she could hear Josh, Chris and Ashley down below.

"Come on..." Josh was complaining, much as she had been earlier.

There was a pause then Chris queried. "How long do you think it'll take him?"

Sam could easily tell Ashley was shrugging as she answered. "My money's on blankets for everyone!"

They then started jokingly cheering him on and Sam smiled, amused by their antics as she descended the stairs and approached them. Josh stood up from the fireplace and turned to them, shaking his head.

"Alright peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you two." He remarked.

"What?" Ashley replied; taken aback by his sudden remark.

Grinning Josh explained. "Okay, well, I'm pretty that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have... a spirit board."

Ashley made a face at that. "A what?"

"Wow..." Chris sarcastically gasped. "You have 'a spirit board'?"

Finally realizing just what he meant Ashley asked incredulously. "Wait are you saying...we should have a seance?"

Chris however shook his head. "Those things are a joke, man, they don't do shit."

"No way bro." Josh insisted. "We used to do it all the time, me and...well..."

They all went quiet at that, knowing he was talking about his sisters.

Sam decided now to make her presence known.

"Hey Josh." She called out. "No hot water's kinda major oversight, doncha think?"

Josh just smiled and gestured. "Yeah, yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler, it's in the basement."

"You guys see if you can find the spirit board." He said, turning to Chris and Ashley.

Enthusiastic Ashley stood up. "Chris, let's go find it, it'll be like a scavenger hunt."

"Ummm...okay..." Chris replied, uncertainly. "I guess so."

"Rad..." Josh replied happily. "You're not gonna regret it."

So they split up, Chris and Ashley headed off on their search while Josh began to walk towards the basement, inviting Sam along, she followed. Once down in the basement, Josh turned to Sam, smirking.

"Hey, you notice how I gave Chris and Ash a mission together?" He queried and when she nodded he continued. "Yeah, I was thinking they could use some 'alone time'."

Sam laughed good-naturedly and nodded. "They are very sweet together. I wish they'd just freakin' get one with it already."

Josh casually shrugged. "I swear, they just need like...something to bond over, y'know? Some sort of traumatic event to send them into each other's arms."

Sam wasn't so sure if she'd word it that way; but didn't say anything as Josh retrieved a flashlight from a drawer and opened the door, they began to descend, heading for the basement.

Stopping just past the door, Josh sighed.

"You know, Sam..."

She turned to him, a little concerned.

"I just wanted to say..." He hesitated but, encouraged by her, continued. "It really means a lot to me, that everyone came back this you and, you know…that you came, Sam."

Gently touching his shoulder, Sam spoke as reassuringly as she could. "Josh, we're here for you really. Whatever you need, whenever. We're all gonna make it through this, together."

"Um, I was us to have a good time, you know." Josh stated.

Sam nodded and they began to make their way down; joking around a little with each other on the way. Soon they found the boiler cabinet and Josh got to work, opening it and preparing to set things up.

"Alright...sorry to drag you down into the bowels."

Sam shook her head. "Just get me some hot water and I'll be super-fine."

"I mean..." He replied, glancing at her. "I wouldn't want you coming down here on your own, you know?"

Looking around Sam bit her lip. "Well it is definitely creepy down here."

"Yep, not a place to be on your own."

While Josh worked Sam spotted something in the cabinet and picked it up, a little surprised, it was a baseball bat.

"What's this doing here?" She asked, turning to show it to Josh. "Is this yours?"

Smiling widely Josh took it from Sam and examined it, even giving a practice swing as he spoke.

"You bet it's mine." He said excitedly. "I used to play ball with my Dad all the time. Of course that was before he got too busy to hang out with me... Oh well, save it for the couch, right?"

Sam couldn't deny she was a little worried at how rapidly Josh's mood seemed to switch, but she held it back.

Setting the baseball bat against the wall, Josh examined the boiler again.

"Okay, lemme see what I can do with this old hot water machine." He quipped, handing Sam the flashlight. "Here, can you...can you hold this?"

Sam took but then turned quickly, hearing a strange noise. "What was that?"

Josh turned to her. "What was what?" Just, shine it here so I can see what I'm doing."

Turning Sam did so and held the light steady while Josh worked.

"Nice one." He said once he was finished. "Okay first things first: we gotta increase the water pressure before we get the boiler fired up."

Sam bit her lip. "Sounds kinda complicated."

Josh shook his head. "No it's actually pretty simple."

He then walked her through it and Sam took her place, ready. While Josh worked the water pressure began to build and, when the light flashed, just as instructed, Sam pulled the lever, the boiler came rumbling to life.

"Whoa!"

Josh grinned. "That's more like it, alright! Five, girl!"

Returning the grin Sam high-fived Josh who smiled widely before turning and closing the boiler cabinet. It was then, suddenly, Sam was sure she heard the noise again.

"What the hell is that…?"

Josh stepped forwards, shrugging. "Could be a lot of things...and none of them nice..."

Seeing his smirk Sam shook her head. "Hey quit it."

"I'm just...just 'Joshing' ya."

Sam rolled her eyes and mock laughed at his bad joke.

Josh genuinely laughed however as he teased her. "You were really freaked out."

Sam scoffed and tried to protest. "I was not scared."

"No, no..." Josh replied quickly, still joking around. "You just jumped because you wanted to squeeze in some aerobics?"

"Don't be an a-hole okay?" Sam continued to protest. "I totally didn't jump! All I said was "what was that" which is a totally normal reaction to hearing a super creepy noise in a super creepy basement."

She was cut off by the sound happening again.

Josh tensed, stepping forwards slowly, now both of them were looking down the corridor leading further into the basement.

"Okay, so, you hear that too, right? Josh?"

"What…?" He whispered in disbelief.

Sam shook her head. "The rhythm's like, weirdly regular..."

"Not, no, nothing 'regular' about it." Josh replied in a whisper.

Sam shuddered at that but then squared her shoulders and put on a brave face.

"I'm gonna check it out." She said as she began to move down the corridor.

Josh was startled by this. "What, why?"

"What do you care, fraidyface?"

"It's probably just like, not anything." He said.

Sam shook her head. "Why don't you hold down the fort while I make sure?"

"Okay, whatever you say, madam." Josh snarked back.

Sam continued down the corridor until suddenly a man wearing a hockey mask and a monks robe leapt out, roaring. Sam screamed and turned to run, Josh started and cried out.

"Whoa, Sam, whoa..."

Sam ran to him, pulling down a wooden pallet against the wall as she passed. Josh stood his ground until Sam just passed him and then ran too. They were so caught up in running they didn't see the man stumble over the pallet and pull his mask off, although the hood still hid his face.

Sam and Josh's attempts to flee were hindered suddenly when they encountered a locked door.

"Oh come ON now." Sam cried as she struggled with it. "Why are these doors locked!?"

Josh shook his head frantically. "To keep out strangers!"

He tried to cover Sam as she struggled to open the door. But it was no use, the monk caught up with them, Sam spun around and they pressed themselves back, against the door.

"Hey..." The monk said in a gravelly voice.

"What…?" Sam gasped.

"Heeyyyyy..."

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Sam choked out, her voice strangled from her earlier screaming.

The monk removed his hood and grinned as his identity was revealed.

"Boom!, you just got monked!"Chris announced triumphantly.

There was a stony silence before Josh burst out laughing and Sam looked outraged.

"WHAT!"

"Nice, nice one." Josh managed to say between laughs and he fist-bumped Chris. "That was good."

Sam spluttered, trying to get the words out, unable to believe what had just occurred. "Why w...why would you do that?"

"There's all this cool old movie crap down here." Chris explained. "What, was I...was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?"

"Are you, are you serious?" She shot back before turning to Josh and shoving his shoulder. "Were you in on this you putz?"

"Nope." Josh defended before admitted. "But I wish I was, that was too good!"

The two high-fived and Sam groaned before they all finally left the basement, Josh locking the door behind them before they made their way to the main room.

With a heavy sigh Sam glanced over at Chris.

"I'm ready to admit that your dumb little prank may have had a slight whiff of humor to it." She admitted.

Chris grinned in response. "Jokemaster!"

Shaking her head Sam responded. "I said nothing about jokes. I said your prank, which was dumb-"

"Holy crap, you were scared, admit it." Josh cut in with another laugh.

"I was not!"

Josh wouldn't let it go however. "Come on, you totally pissed yourself."

"Josh!"

Chris walked further ahead than the pair, to where Ashley was waiting. Sam stopped by the stairs going up, Josh followed Chris. Ashley took a moment to take in Chris wearing the monks robe.

"What..in God's name...are you wearing?" She asked at last.

Jokingly making the sign of the cross in front of her, Chris replied. "I found my true calling."

Clasping her hands together Ashley jokingly replied. "Please tell me you're going to take a vow of silence."

Chris continued to joke, pretending to speak inaudibly, making Ashley laugh.

"Okay, okay, did you at least find the...thingy?"

"Boi-oi-oi-oing!" Chris produced the appropriate sound effect as he pulled the Ouija board from his costume. "Here's our one way ticket to the spirit realm...!"

Ashley nodded and Sam sighed.

"You know what, you know what, No." She said. "I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball."

The others all nodded and Sam began to ascend the stairs.

She called back. "Alright? So have fun...! Oh but watch out for that Josh. He's a schemer!"

Josh just laughed and joins Chris and Ashley as they prepared to use the Ouija board, with Sam heading up for her bath at last.

* * *

End of chapter and of chapter 2 at last, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	7. Chapter 3 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 3 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you liked it :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Oh, well, what is about to happen won't make you any happier about it I'm afraid (insert evil laugh here)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Part 1: Hauntings**

 _Therapy Session_

The figure once more sat in Dr. Hill's office, they sat back, making themselves comfortable, a very strange occurrence since the office had suddenly become rather decrepit; the windows were boarded up, the curtains tattered and things looked generally untidy. A jar of offal was located on the desk, unsettling the figure a little. They had _told_ Dr. Hill last time they hated gore like that.

"I would like to understand..." Dr. Hill was saying, apparently unperturbed by the state of his office. "...Your feelings towards people who _fear_ failure and worry about what others think of them."

He had sat down by this point, notebook at the ready. The figure shifted uncomfortably at Dr. Hill's words.

"Do you share this fear?"

The figure nodded, answering in the affirmative.

Dr. Hill chuckled. "Is that so?"

The figure picked up on his tone and watched him through narrowed eyes, clearly getting defensive.

"Because that is not reflected in the way you're playing your game now, is it?" The good Doctor emphasized.

The figure bowed their head, Dr. Hill stood up and walked over to the window, glancing at his notebook.

"And now..." He said suddenly, returning quickly to the desk and leaning on it, getting in the figure's face. "Let us investigate your feelings towards other people in greater depth. What you value, what you respect in yourself and others."

He sat back down and readied his pen.

"Which would you say is more important in a person, loyalty or honesty?" He asked, sounding surprisingly harsh.

The figure pondered for a moment, before replying. "I value honesty."

Dr. Hill raised an eyebrow. "So...you would tell the truth, even if it resulted in an unpleasant outcome for a friend. And what about honesty, then? And charity?"

"I value charity." The figure replied without hesitation.

Dr. Hill gave a short laugh, an unsettling grin on his face. "Such a giving and caring person, very nice."

He was cut off by a slight 'ding' noise from a small bell somewhere.

"Ah, I'm afraid we're out of time, we'll talk again soon."

With that he stood again, the session over, the figure stood and left again.

* * *

 _Washington Ski Lodge Interior_

 _Time: 23:00 (Eight hours Until Dawn)_

Chris grinned as he, Josh and Ashley sat together. They had pulled three wooden chairs over to a small table in one corner of the room, set up the spirit board and were now gathered around it.

Chris began to inform the others, taking some 'liberties' with his instructions. "So it says here: "to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master," which is me-"

"It doesn't say that." Ashley scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Chris laughed shortly before jokingly adding. "And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion."

Josh groaned. "Chris, come on, this is serious."

"Oh I'm deadly serious."

Finally Ashley shook her head. "Oh shush it, let's try this."

"Yes, please." Josh added.

All three of them placed their hands on the board.

"Okay then." Chris conceded at last. "Let's see what happens. Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?"

Biting her lip, Ashley nodded as they all touched the pointer. "OK, um...Anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us...if you're there?"

There was a lengthy pause where nothing happened then, to their shock, the pointer began moving, guiding their hands.

They were startled and cried out in surprise and consternation.

"Wait a minute..." Chris gasped.

Josh practically choked his words out. "Did you do that?"

Ashley shook her head. "I didn't do anything!"

"It's moving again." Chris noted.

The pointer indeed began moving again, this time spelling out a word, starting with H. They continued talking over each other.

"What's it spelling?" Josh cried out.

"Hold on." Ashley whispered worriedly.

"How is this happening?"

Chris was still skeptical. "Are you moving it?"

Ashley shook her head vehemently. "I swear it's just moving."

There was a pause as it finished spelling the word.

"Holy shit..." Josh whispered in disbelief.

Ashley repeated the word, utterly taken aback. "Help?"

Chris shook his head. "How are we supposed to help?"

"I don't know." Ashley retorted. "What does it mean?"

Chris thought for a moment. "We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them."

Ashley nodded and asked. "Who are you...Ohh, here it goes-"

The pointer began moving again. They read out the word it spelled aloud, Josh reacting first, followed by Ashley and then Chris, before the cycle repeated.

"Okay, 'S'."

"I"

"S"

"T"

"E"

"R"

"Sister..." Ashley said breathlessly. "Sister?"

"Whose sister?" Josh asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Ashley and Chris shared a look, both clearly thinking the same thing.

Chris however still seemed a skeptic. "Oh come on, is this real?"

"Shut up." Josh snarled before insisting. "Ask it whose sister."

Ashley shifted uneasily.

Finally however she voiced her thoughts.

"Josh, it's...it's gotta be..." She couldn't finish, but she didn't need to.

Josh realized but was still intense as he shot back. "Yeah? OK, well, which sister is it then?"

Chris nodded slowly. "Ashley, ask who it is?"

Ashley shuddered, suddenly more afraid than ever. She considered for a moment before, finally, simply choosing at random.

"Who are we speaking to…? Beth…? Is that you?"

The pointer suddenly moved to 'Yes' on the board.

"Oh God." Ashley whimpered, freaked out.

Chris was even more edgy now. "This is messed up."

Worried Ashley immediately turned to Josh. "Josh, are you…?"

"I'm fine." He insisted.

"Are you sure because we can stop-" Ashley began to reply.

"No."

"Dude." Chris said softly. "It's cool..."

"I want to hear what it says." Josh explained, looking suddenly rather manic.

Ashley shook her head. "I don't know where to start."

They fell into a short silence, thinking. Finally Chris spoke up, a spark of interest in his eyes.

"Think about it." He said quietly. "If this is actually Beth, I mean, we can find out what happened that night."

"Oh...kay..." Ashley whispered nervously. "Let me think…"

Finally Ashley spoke again, voicing her question

"Beth...We want to know what happened to you that night. Can you tell us?"

The pointer began moving again.

Ashley spoke quickly, trying to keep up. "H-A-N-N..."

"It's spelling Hannah." Chris piped up.

But then Ashley realized. "Wait, it's still going."

"K-I-" Chris read.

Ashley continued. "L-L...Oh my god..."

The word finished, adding in 'E' and 'D'.

"Killed?" Josh exhaled. "Guys, guys what's she talking about?"

Ashley shook her head, sounding as if she was borderline to a breakdown. "I don't know if I can keep doing this..."

"We have to." Josh insisted.

There was an edgy silence.

Finally Chris seemed to make up his mind.

He spoke reassuringly to Ashley. "Just, just stay calm...I think it's saying that someone killed Hannah..."

"I don't know..." Ashley said shakily.

"I just..." Chris bit his lip. "Ask it something else!"

Ashley nodded, trying to regain her composure. "Okay, okay...How was Hannah killed?"

The pointer moved again, as Ashley read out, beginning to spell the word. 'L-I-B-'

Chris immediately caught on. "Library, maybe there's something in the library here..."

"P-R-O-O..." Ashley read out.

Chris again realized what was going on. "Proof, there's, there's…there's proof."

"In the library?" Ashley queried in disbelief.

Suddenly the spirit board shook and flipped the pointer clean off the table, making all three jump back.

"Watch out!" Josh cried out.

The other also cried out. The lengthy silence was broken by Josh, shakily getting to his feet.

"You know what, no, this is bullshit." He was almost growling. "This isn't real..."

"Josh, I don't know what's going on." Ashley insisted.

Josh glared. "Listen, I don't know... I don't know if you think messing with you is somehow going to help me with my grief or whatever but this is not cool."

He began to storm away.

"Josh no!" Ashley tried to explain, pointing out. "You wanted to use the spirit board."

"Hey calm down, it's not Ash's fault!" Chris tried to defend her.

Josh merely snarled at them. "I don't need this right now, okay?! You guys are full of it!"

With that he stalked away, heading down into the basement.

Standing awkwardly, feeling guilty, Ashley turned to Chris.

"Sh-should we go after him?" She asked hesitantly.

Chris shook his head. "Ah man, I mean...He'll be okay, let's...let's just give him some time."

Ashley trusted Chris, he was Josh's best friend, he'd know how best to handle Josh when he was behaving like this.

All the same she was freaked out. "I don't blame him...That was crazy, the pointer flew right off the table."

"I mean if..." Chris began, unsure how to word what he was saying. "If you were faking it, you were doing one hell of a job-"

"I wasn't faking anything." Ashley insisted. "I think we should do what it says. We should look in the library."

Chris nodded in agreement and they prepared to do just that.

* * *

 _Mountain Path_

 _Time: 23:22 (Eight hours Until Dawn)_

Looking around warily at the spot on the fallen tree trunk where Jess had been standing, Mike bit his lip worriedly.

"Jess?" He called out, wary having heard her scream.

She screamed again and Mike panicked. "Jess?"

He hurried over and began to climb over the tree trunk, nearly getting the wind knocked out of him in the process.

"OOOOF" He gasped before cringing. "FUCK NUGGETS!"

He clambered over and jumped down, following the path, looking around warily as he went, using his flashlight to find any clue.

"Jessica…?" He called out worriedly; continuing his calls as he searched. "Ah come on, Jess? Buddy?"

He stopped by an old abandoned tractor; one that had clearly been here for some time.

"You in there?" He whispered as he tried the door.

Suddenly a scarecrow mask popped up from within the vehicle making Mike leap back with a yelp.

"Ahh, whoa, Christ!" He took a deep breath, calming down. "That scared the blue outta my jeans. The hell is that doing in there anyway?"

Composing himself he continued his search. Calling out at various times as he went up the right hand path from the tractor.

"Jess? Hon? Light of my life?" Then, jokingly. "I totally promise I won't murder you when I find you."

Just then a figure with large antler like horns leapt from the shadow and Mike screamed; a very unmanly scream.

The figure burst out laughing, revealing themselves to be Jess, holding a pair of loose antlers to her head. She put them down.

"Oh my god!" She laughed.

"Oh my...no!" Mike cried out, shaking his head in dismay.

Jess couldn't hold back her laughter. "Haha, that was so good!"

"Not...no!"

Hurrying to where she had set her phone down she spoke to him.

"Wait, wait, wait, you have to see this...you have-"

"I'm not seeing anyth – no. No!" Mike groaned.

But Jess was insistent, holding out her phone to him. "Look, no, no, no. Mike, haha!"

"You recorded that?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"Look at your face!" Jess insisted with glee.

"I was scared Jess!" He groaned. "You can't just jump out at somebody! I'm in the middle of the woods, it's scary!"

Laughing still Jess remarked sarcastically. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

"I-if you send that to anybody..." He warned.

"You'll what?" She challenged cheerfully.

"I'm...gonna...kill ya." He finished lamely, not convincing at all.

Smirking Jess jokingly teased him. "I didn't know you had such a cute little lady-like scream Michael. Guess you never really know someone unless you scare the pants off 'em!"

Rolling his eyes and regaining his composure, Mike replied.

He opted to respond with a casual witticism. "As far as I can tell, my pants are still on."

"Oh is that so?"

"Yeah, looks like you'll have to try harder." He quipped.

"A challenge 'ey?" She replied confidently. "Well I hope you're strapped in, cause you're about to feel the full force of my mind melting thrill skills."

With that, the couple reunited and continued on their way.

As they walked onwards they soon began crossing a bridge which overlooked a small waterfall; Jessica gasped in amazement, loving the surroundings.

"Waaaaaoooow...It's kind of like a real winter wonderland out here now..."

"Hey girl, you know I hook you up!" Mike responded cheerfully.

Jess nodded happily and they resumed their trek when they were interrupted by a rather disconcerting noise.

"The hell is that?" Mike whispered uneasily.

Jess was also worried. "Was it someone screaming?"

"Naw, no, probably just a squirrel or something." Mike replied, trying to be reassuring.

"Brr. Creep town."

They continued, now more than eager to reach the cabin. But Mike suddenly stopped, hearing something.

"Shh!"

"What?" Jess whispered.

"Did you hear that?" He replied quietly.

Jess shook her head and Mike warily lifted a snowball. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should throw it. In the end, his hesitance led to him dropping the snowball both he and Jess cried out in surprise as a deer jumped out from the trees and tore past them. Both recovering from their close call they resumed their journey, Mike was certain they were almost there on. On the way they cam across an abandoned shack.

"Charming."

Jess laughed at that and joking replied. "It's everything you described Michael."

"Wait, what?" He responded, confused.

"The cabin, I love it."

He rolled his eyes and responded with sarcastic 'yeah'. Still, he decided to check it out, while Jess cleaned up some mud from her coat from a nearby small pond, thankfully not completely frozen over.

A careful search of the old shack turned up nothing except an old miners mask. Curious about it, Mike decided to share his discovery with Jess.

"Hey, check out this mask." He said, as he emerged, showing it to her as she stood and turned.

"Ew, why?"

"It's so weird right?" He queried.

Jess shook her head, shuddering. "It creeps me out."

"I think you like it." Mike teased, before holding it in front of his face. "Wanna make out?"

Jess groaned. "Mike stop!"

"Alright, your loss." He replied, throwing it aside, muttering to himself. "This mask is cool."

They continued, Mike briefly wondering if they'd have any more distractions on the way. They soon got their answer as another deer leapt out in front of them and ran ahead, making both of them yelp. A short while later, they heard a high-pitched screech.

"What is that?" Jess shakily whispered.

"Not sure I wanna know."

It was shortly after that they found the dying deer. The poor creature lay on the ground, it's neck savaged, it's labored breathing spoke of it's agony.

"Damn..." Mike whispered.

Jess shook her head in dismay. "It's horrible."

Examining the deer Mike shook his head sadly. "I don't think it's gonna make it."

Deciding to at least ease it's final moments, Mike slowly approached it.

He knelt down, talking gently.

"Hey bud...hey buddy."

Jess did the same, talking softly. "Oh my god, the poor thing..."

He moved closer and gently stroked its head.

"It's okay...it's okay..."

"Mike, it's in so much pain." Jess said sadly.

He nodded before talking, again trying to be reassuring. "It'll be over soon, okay? It'll be over soon."

Suddenly they heard the high-pitched screech again and the deer was suddenly yanked away from them, into the shadows. They both cried out, terrified.

"AHHH!" Jess screamed.

"WHOA-" Mike looked around wildly before quickly calling out. "RUN! RUN!"

They fled for their lives as they heard the wet, crunching noise of the deer being slaughtered by whatever had grabbed it, something that was now right behind them.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	8. Chapter 3 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 3 part 2 of my Until Dawn Novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks and it's always been horror, but now things are picking up, just wait to see what's in store next.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Part 2: Terrible Discoveries**

 _Cabin in the Woods_

As they ran, hearing the sounds of rapid pursuit, Jess screamed.

"Oh my god, what the hell was that!?"

"I don't know!" Mike yelled back.

Spotting a route, Jess cried out. "There's a bridge!" Over here! Over here Mike!"

She leapt over the gap of the fallen bridge, Mike following close behind, also jumping the gap. They ran further, ducking and leaping over branches as they ran.

"It's a bear, it's gotta be a bear!" Mike cried out.

Hardly reassured Jess stopped, looking in dismay at the path splitting, a steep hill to their left offered a short cut, while the other was the actual path.

Mike nodded to her and took off towards the short-cut, she followed at once and they began climbing the slope, Mike helped Jess up several times until they finally reached the top and began to run for the cabin, now right in front of them.

They climbed the small set of steps onto the porch and Mike reached the door, Jess however tripped, dropping the key.

"Jess!" Mike turned sharply.

She struggled to her feet, gesturing to the key. Getting the message Mike grabbed the key and hurried tried to unlock the door, urging Jess on as she got up and joined him. They managed to get inside and close the door behind them, locking it.

Fighting to catch their breath Jess shook her head.

"Holy crap, I feel like I just ran a marathon!" She wheezed out.

Mike laughed lightly. "I think we kinda did."

"Was it a bear?"

Mike shrugged. "Yeah, gotta be, things are crazy fast."

Looking out the window worriedly Jess muttered. "I mean, I didn't see it."

Trying to calm her down Mike spoke confidently. "Hey, thing's not gonna come barging in, I promise."

Jess turned to him, sceptical. "How can you be sure?"

"Cause I'm pretty sure bears don't know how to open cabin doors."

"I've seen them open car doors." Jess stated.

Mike was incredulous of that. "What, where?"

"On...the internet."

Mike nodded slowly. "Really? Okay... Well, this isn't the internet, Jess! Alright? This is real life! And I promise you that no bear or anything else is gonna open that cabin door."

Jess sighed. "I guess you're right. Okay. I'm almost feeling relaxed again. Almost."

She attempted to flick the lights on, but they didn't work, muttering to herself she moved to the sofa and sat down, rubbing her arms.

"Brr, this is not the cozy chalet I was promised, Mike."

Mike nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's a bit drafty or something, right?"

"Well, there is a fireplace." Jess stated, gesturing to it.

Smirking confidently Mike leaned on the back of the sofa. "We don't need a fire to heat things up."

"Michael." Jess admonished him. "I am a lady and a lady needs a proper romantic setting. A lady would like to cuddle up with her man by a nice cozy fire bathed in atmospheric mood lighting."

"It'll get plenty toasty once we're rubbing up against each other..."

"Mike?" Jess repeated, emphasizing her point. "Fire...and mood lighting."

With an indulgent sigh, Mike nodded. "Yes...M'lady."

He began to search for matches to help light the fire.

As he searched Jess checked her pockets and suddenly began to panic.

"Oh shit, fuck, Mike!"

"What."

"Ahhhhh, oh crap!" Jess complained.

"What?" Mike repeated.

"Where is it!?"

"What, what's wrong?" He tried to get her to tell him.

"Gone, it's gone okay." She groaned.

"Jess, slow down." He told her calmly. "What is gone?"

Jess wasn't for calming down however. "my freakin; phone, Sherlock!"

Immediately Mike checked under the sofa and around with the flashlight.

"You can't find it?"

"Crap, no!" She said, before realizing. "I must have dropped it outside."

"Ahh... shit..."

Jess turned to him. "I can't lose my phone, my parents will kill me."

"You can always get a new one..." Mike suggested.

"That's like, my fourth one this year."

Grimacing Mike nodded. "Okay, okay, well, I'll help you look for it."

"It's gotta be outside." Jess reiterated.

Mike sighed. "Yeah... I don't think we wanna go out there right now with the bear... or whatever-it-is..."

Jess conceded his point and sat back down while Mike resumed his search. He found a few interesting things in the cabin, a photo of Hannah and, most notably, a book on Native American beliefs, which explained the meaning of the carving they saw earlier.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones to meet the friendly neighborhood terror bears." He informed Jess.

She shook her head. "That does not make me feel any better."

Mike nodded, indicating he felt the same.

Finally he found the matches and grinned.

"Lookie-lookie, who's gonna fire up some nookie!"

Jess rolled her eyes. "You've been dying to use that line since we got here, haven't you?"

Mike just laughed and headed towards the fireplace, a small electric lantern was situated on the floor before it, he smirked and turned it on, taking care of the mood lighting. He then got to work, putting the wood in the fireplace and lighting it. Grinning he stood up, turning to Jess.

"Man one, fire zero."

Jess clapped her hands with a grin. "Very nice, bravo."

"Alright my lady, what comes next?" Mike queried.

With a suggestive grin, Jess stood and steered Mike until he was seated on the sofa. Casually humming a disco beat to which Mike grinned and settled back on the sofa to watch.

Unbeknownst to them, something was stalking around outside, breathing heavily, it soon approached the window and, it's infa-red vision made out the shape of the duo inside as they soon ended up making out on the sofa.

Inside, Mike and Jess were still making out, Jess had, by now, stripped down to her white floral-patterned panties and matching bra, Mike was now down to just his jeans and white tank-top undershirt.

Just then a loud crashing noise got their attention, causing them to break apart.

"Wha?"

"Huh?" Jess gasped. "Mike, what is that?!"

"I don't know!" He responded at once.

"Okay, well go find out, now, please!" She hissed, sounding scared.

Mike nodded slowly, standing up and pulling on his socks and shoes before making his way through to the bedroom. The window was broken and something was lying on the floor, playing a song. Mike picked it up, it was Jess' phone.

"It's your phone!" He called out, turning.

She was now standing in the bedroom's doorway, still clad in just her underwear.

"What?" How is it my phone?" She replied incredulously.

Mike shrugged. "I don't know it just...came through the window!"

Jess suddenly glared, enraged as she plucked her phone from Mike's hand.

"Oh for fuck's sake- God DAMMIT!"

"What?"

Jess then gestured outside, retorting angrily. "Those goddamned assholes probably followed us out here to fuck with us and just when we were getting down to business!"

With that, despite the cold, despite her attire, Jess stormed through the cabin to the front door, opened it and stepped out onto the porch. Unaware that she was being watched by the same thing from earlier.

HEY! YEAH! PRICKS! THAT MEANS YOU! I KNOW you're OUT THERE! The FUCK are you trying to do!?" She screamed into the night. "You want to ruin our fun THAT BAD?! Well GUESS WHAT? You can't! You can't ruin our good time! Because Michael and I are gonna FUCK! That's right! We are going to have SEX! And it's gonna be HOT! So ENJOY IT! Because I know WE'RE GOING TO!"

Shaking her head and turned, heading back inside, slamming the door.

"Oh give me a break." She muttered.

Standing by the door, arms crossed she looked over at Mike. He sighed and began to approached her.

Suddenly something broke through the door, grabbing Jess by her head, she screamed in sheer terror as the thing that grabbed her yanked her forcefully through the broken window part of the door and out into the frigid night, her screams still echoing horribly as Mike witnessed the whole thing in utter shock and terror.

* * *

 _Washington Ski Lodge Interior_

 _Time: 23:14/23:19 (Eight hours Until Dawn)_

Walking through the darkened lodge, with only a lit candlestick, held by Ashley, for light, she and Chris began making their way to the staircase which would lead down to the library.

"Do you really think the girls were communicating with us?" Chris asked at last, breaking the tense silence.

Ashley shook her head, groaning. "I don't know. I don't know if I wish they were or I wish they weren't."

Chris sighed but then shrugged. "I guess we should find out."

They began to head down the stairs, as they did, Ashley bit her lip, looking around, just in case they ran into Josh. She still felt the need to apologize to him.

"Josh looked so freaked out at the séance." She commented.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I mean, he looked like he was keeping it together, but..."

Ashley bowed her head guiltily and asked. "Do you think we shouldn't have mentioned his sisters?"

"I mean, it's why we came back up here." Chris replied; apparently trying to reassure her.

"Yeah..." Ashley agreed before pointing out. "But not to like, have a séance, maybe we went too far."

In the room before the library something caught Ashley's eye, she thought she saw light. The floorboard was on a hinge so she lifted it up, beneath was a vent with light coming through, electric lighting, despite the power cut.

She and Chris both agreed something was seriously wrong with that and quickly left it. They soon entered the library and began looking around for the proof that was apparently here.

This led to a close call as they passed a bookshelf which suddenly seemed to launch a couple of books at their heads, narrowly missing them.

"Jesus, look out!" Chris yelled, doing his best to shield Ashley.

Ashley was understandably freaked out. "Ah, Chris! Holy crap..."

"Are you okay?"

"I think so." She replied before looking at the bookshelf and pointing. "Look-"

"What?" Chris turned and noticed something too.

"There was something behind the books, what is that?" She queried as they began to move closer.

"Is it a button?" Chris wondered aloud.

They got close enough to see that it was indeed a button and Ashley narrowed her eyes, tilting her head in confusion.

"Why would there be a button?"

Chris shrugged. "That's a good question."

Sadly that did not ease Ashley's nerves in any way.

Sighing she turned to him. "Well, should I push it?"

"That's what, buttons are for, I guess." Chris replied warily.

Nodding slowly Ashley reached out and then pressed the button, stepping back in shock as the bookcase and wall behind it began to move, to reveal a secret passage.

"Whoaa." Chris gasped, amazed. "Panel opens, head explodes."

Ashley however was more frustrated. "What the, are we, like, in a movie right now!?"

Shifting a little, recalled all the spooks so far, Chris replied. "If we are I hope it's a rom-com."

Smiling a little at that Ashley privately agreed with those hopes, before remarking.

"Leave it to the Washington's to have secret passages in their house."

"Maybe they didn't even know." Chris pointed out. "This place if super old."

They both stood on the threshold, unsure and feeling unnerved.

Finally Ashley voiced what they were both wondering.

"So...should we take a look?"

Chris gestured. "After you."

"No." Ashley replied at once. "No, nonono...you go."

She practically thrust the candlestick into his hand.

"Gee thanks." He replied sarcastically.

Nevertheless he entered the passage noting it wasn't all that large. The main object of interest was a desk at the far side, specifically, what was on the desk. Picking it up Chris found himself looking at a portrait photo of Hannah and Beth.

"Well?" Ashley queried.

Chris however was even more shocked as he turned it over to find, written on the back of the photo a threatening note, promising to harm the twins.

"Whoa, is this..?"

"What did you find?" Ashley insisted.

"Holy cow..." Chris gasped; thinking how best to approach this, then finally speaking. "Now Ash...I don't want to freak you out but...but look at this."

As he spoke he emerged from the passage to join her again.

"WHAT?" She asked; just hearing him say that freaked her out. "CHRIS, what IS that?"

"I...I think this might be what the spirit board wanted us to find." He admitted.

"The clue?"

"Yeah, it's a letter." He explained.

Ashley reached out, asking to see it she read it as Chris explained about it being a threat.

Reading the threat Ashley gasped, horror filling her face.

"Chris, this is serious." She burst out. "We need to find Josh right now."

Nodding Chris followed her as they left the library, only to be freaked out by a door that had been locked previously opening, with nobody there to open it.

Despite their nerves now practically being on a hair trigger, they followed the new path, which, if Chris' memory of the lodge served him right, would lead to the kitchen eventually.

"Do you think someone was actually after Hannah and Beth?" Ashley asked worriedly.

"If so, that would be...really messed up." Chris replied, even sounding a little unsure himself.

While exploring this new area, Chris spotted a letter, reading it he noted it seemed to be talking about a dispute with local Native American tribes, on the back he saw a note from Melinda Washington.

"Looks like this was written by Josh's mom."

Ashley nodded in confirmation, remembering what she had heard. "Yeah, she's really making an effort to set things right with some native tribe or something."

Chris had heard this too. "Yeah, the bad karma goes back a long way."

Putting the letter down they continued on their path, stopping in the last room before the kitchen. Chris turned to Ashley, who stopped, worried all over again upon seeing his expression.

"So um..." He began, before finally spilling it. "I've just been thinking about something I saw earlier with Sam..."

"What?"

He explained. "There was this, wanted poster, like, full on western-style you know?"

Ashley shrugged. "So?"

"And Sam really thought there was someone following her around..."

"So...so what?" Ashley replied, suddenly getting nervous again. "You're saying that there's some criminal up on the mountain with us?"

Chris nodded, that was just what he was thinking, there was more to come too.

He remembered more and quickly told Ashley.

"There was a message... on this answering machine I found and it – it was from this Sergeant saying there was this guy who had just gotten out of prison and there was nothing he could do-"

"What do you mean?" She asked, panic beginning to creep into her voice.

"He was saying it like...like a warning." Chris finished, before then realizing. "I mean, maybe that was whoever was down in the basement before, remember, under the floorboards in the library, the light...That guy I told you about..."

Ashley wracked her brains, Chris had told her a lot of things as they prepared to go to the library.

"Wait, wait, wait." She insisted, she couldn't put her finger on it. "What guy!?"

"The guy who threatened the Washingtons...He said he wanted to take revenge by burning the whole place down." Chris explained. "And I found that crazy psycho letter..."

Ashley groaned and turned away, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Chris, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better... you're fired." She said bluntly.

Chris was about to reply when the door to the kitchen banged and suddenly they heard a scream.

"You hear that?" Chris gasped, turning at once.

Ashley recognized it and cried out. "That was Josh-!"

Chris hurried forwards. "Coming from the kitchen!"

They called out to him, Chris telling him to hold on as Ashley opened the kitchen door. Suddenly she was yanked into the room and the door slammed shut, Ashley began screaming and suddenly crying out in pain.

Panicking Chris tried to open the doors. "Ashley?! Ash! What's going on, lemme in!"

But the door was locked or jammed, Ashley grunted in pain again.

"Ashley, are you okay?!" He cried out.

Shaking his head he began trying to force the door, ramming into it and, on his third try, he broke through, stumbling onto the ground. He struggled to his feet and saw Ashley, out cold, on the floor in front of him.

"Ash?" He whispered before panicking. "ASH! HEY-!"

He cried out as a man, dressed in a strange jumper suit and wearing a white demonic clown mask, with demonic teeth and red along the upper lip, acting as an exposed gum, suddenly appeared in his field of vision and punched him right in the face, knocking him out cold too.

The Masked Man then turned and began to drag Ashley's unconscious form away.

Later, he stood on the landing of the steps leading upstairs and listened carefully, he could hear the sounds of another person moving upstairs, in the bathroom. Smirking beneath his mask, he lit the candle on its holder next to the landing and turned, walking away.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

End of chapter 3, things are getting intense now, someone or something has grabbed Jess, some masked man seems to have attacked Josh and has now knocked out Chris and Ashley before taking Ashley away somewhere, this same figure is also apparently stalking Sam, as readers should recall she has gone up to have a bath. Not only that, things are getting creepier with Dr. Hill and since leaving to find her bag, Emily and Matt are nowhere to be seen.


	9. Chapter 4 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 4 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – Part 1: Desperate Chase**

 _Therapy Session_

The figure had returned to the office to find it in worse shape than before and, more unnervingly, a mannequin wearing a scarecrow mask hung by a chain from the ceiling. The figure began to wonder if Dr. Hill, once more standing by the window, was doing this on purpose. Once the doctor took his seat, he pulled out a small book, similar to the one he had given the figure in the second session.

"I'm going to show you some, uh, pictures of people you have come to know, and like." He explained. "But...maybe you don't like them as much as you _pretend_ to. Well, this is an exercise in honesty. Tell me which person from each pair you _like_ the most."

He handed the book to the figure, picked up his clipboard and prepared to take notes.

He looked up at the figure before reminding them. "Take your time, your answers are important."

With that the figure opened the book and found themselves observing a picture of Sam on the left page and Josh on the right. Aware Dr. Hill was watching, the figure pointed to Sam before turning the page, this time pictures of Emily and Matt greeted them.

They pointed to Matt, turned the page and pointed to Ashley on the page showing her and Chris. Finally, Mike and Jessica's pictures were shown, the figure pointed to Mike's picture.

Dr. Hill kept taking notes and nodded for the figure to continue. Turning the page, the figure picked Josh from the choice between him and Emily and then Chris from the choice between him and Jessica.

"So tell me..." Dr. Hill queried, looking up from his notes. "In this game you're playing so... diligently, who is it that you most dislike?"

The figure turned to the last page and after some consideration, pointed to Emily's picture. Making one final note, Dr. Hill looked up and nodded.

"A bit too _bitchy_ for your taste? Often a _lack_ of confidence manifests itself as overconfidence, think about that. Is that a not just a little bit like... _you_?"

The figure started at that.

Dr. Hill however shrugged, checking his watch. "Ah, once again I'm afraid we're out of time, we'll talk again soon."

The figure sighed but left as Dr. Hill returned to the window.

* * *

 _Mountain Woods_

 _Time: 23:59 (Seven hours Until Dawn)_

Recovering from the sudden attack on Jessica, Mike darted forwards, still holding his lantern.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, what the fuck!" He cried out.

He grabbed the hunting rifle he had spotted next to the door when they entered and darted outside the cabin, leaping down into the snow.

"JESSICA!" He yelled before noting the footprints and drag marks in the snow. "Oh my god, oh my god..."

He took off running, following the trail.

"JESS! Jess..." He cried out, listening, praying he could hear her respond, even if it was only a scream.

His heart was hammering, the blood pounded in his head, the wind rushed past his ears. All Mike could think about was saving Jess from whatever, or whoever, had grabbed her. As such, the cold barely affected him, not even when he stopped to contemplate his choices, for he saw two routes ahead.

One was shorter but more risking, jumping over some fallen metal tubing to cross the river, or following the path around. For Mike, it was a no-brainer and he began to leap from metal tube to metal tube until he finally crossed the river and took off running again.

"JESS! JESSICA! JESSICAAA!" He cried out as he continued to run.

But his frantic searching was still getting no response. He stopped when he reached a ledge and looked around, it was dark, hard to see and the ground was some distance below. Gritting his teeth he set his lantern down and aimed the hunting rifle, trying to use the scope to see the path below.

He searched without any result and began to panic.

"Jesus, fuck...fuck..." He whispered but then stopped. "JESS, NO!"

He spotted her, a little worse for wear, dirt had smeared onto the back of her thighs and panties, she was frantically crawling away from something. But then, whatever it was, as Mike couldn't see it through the scope, grabbed her and began pulling her away.

"Argh, NO!" She screamed, before pleading loudly. "MICHAAEELLLL HELP ME! HELP ME!"

She was yanked away out of sight, still screaming. Mike leapt to his feet, picking up the lantern and shouldering the rifle again. He wasted no time and jumped down, sliding down the cliff.

"Holy SHIIIT! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! URGH!"

The whole way down he cried out, managing to grab a branch on the way down to slow his fall, it broke but allowed him to land on his feet. He quickly retrieved the rifle and lantern and kept running.

"Keep going, keep going." He told himself.

His adrenaline pounded, making him move faster, ducking under low hanging tree branches and leaping over protruding tree roots. He silently cursed, he could no longer hear Jess screaming, his only source of finding her was the unusual footprints and drag marks still fresh in the snow.

He stopped again briefly as he found himself at a chasm, there were two ways across, he could either shimmy across the edges, or use the rock platforms to jump across.

' _Okay, c'mon...fuck it...Jess' life is at stake.'_ He told himself and threw caution to the wind.

It was a startling experience, but he managed to make the jumps, some of them only just, once on the other side he wasted no time and resumed pursuit, once more picking up the trail.

He shook his head as he pursued. _'There's no way this is a freaking bear, but, what else is so fast, or strong...this doesn't...I swear if is some person I am gonna really lose it.'_

Growling and urging himself onwards he soon stopped again, he was standing at the top of a cliff, overlooking an old abandoned mine building.

Looking at the path below, Mike made up his mind at once and began to slide down the ledge, taking care to arrest his fall and slow his descent. Soon he reached the bottom, landing on his feet.

He picked up his rifle and lantern again and began to make his way towards the mine building, the trail stopped here, which worried him, he looked around.

"HELP ME!" Jess suddenly screamed.

"Come, shit! Shit! Shit, shit!" Mike growled as he entered the mine building.

Following her screams he tried to find her.

"Oh no, Michael!"

"JESSICA!" He yelled back, trying to get her attention.

Her scream this time was more focused, telling him she had heard. "HELP ME!"

"JESSICA!" He called out again, but this time, no reply. "JESS!"

Instantly panic settled within him and he hurried through the building, descending a set of stairs when he found them.

His heart leapt into his mouth when he heard Jess shriek again.

"ARGH! NO! MICHAAEELLLL HELP ME! HELP ME!" She was pleading and she wasn't scared, no, she was clearly terrified.

"JESSICA, I'M COMING!" He called out, trying to reassure her, but she continued to scream. "JESSICA, JESSICA!"

Hearing him she cried out, pleading again. "HELP ME! Oh no Michael!"

"JESS!"

He reached the bottom of the steps and rounded a corner, slowly approaching the center for the room, his eyes widened in horror.

An old elevator was stationed there and lying on it, covered in blood with several gashes to her face and chest, as well as her arms and legs, it was clear she had been attacked, whatever attacked her only sought physical damage however for, although stained with blood and dirt, her underwear was still on and not disturbed in the slightest except by what would be expected from her struggling.

But she wasn't moving, Mike fell to his knees next to her.

"NO! OH GOD! Nooo... Jessica... Oh god!" He cried; he had been too late.

But then she suddenly gasped, his eyes widened. "Jess! Jess! Are you okay!?"

She attempted to move, but clearly did not have the strength, even turning her head seemed a chore.

"Help..." She wheezed.

Mike began to reach for her when suddenly, there was a loud, metallic snap and the elevator dropped into the depths of the mines.

"JESSSICAAAAA!"

Mike started in dismay as her body vanished from sight; he had come so close and now she was gone. Head bowed he nearly collapsed into tears, when he noticed a strange shape forming a shadow above him.

"Huh? What the fuck." He mumbled as he looked upwards.

He could see the shape now, it was clearly a person, a figure, looking down at him. A sudden rage gripped Mike then and a red mist descended, this had to be the person responsible for what happened to Jess. At that point, only one thing registered in Mike's mind. Vengeance.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	10. Chapter 4 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 4 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Creepy? Try terrifying, traumatising (especially for poor Jess) :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – Part 2: A Terrible Choice**

 _Abandoned Mines_

 _Time: 00:12 (Seven hours Until Dawn)_

Reacting at once in blind anger, Mike raised the rifle, taking aim at the figure above and firing. Mike wasn't sure exactly what happened, either he missed or the figure avoided the shot, either way he shoulder the rifle and began to run up stairs.

' _Son of a bitch, you're not getting away from me!'_ He thought furiously.

Running up the stairs he very nearly fell through a hold in the ground but leapt over it at the last second. He stopped only when he reached the elevator shaft and began to climb it. Seeing a ledge above him he leapt up to it, only for it to break. He let out a yelp but quickly caught a lower ledge. Gritting his teeth he struggled upwards, climbing still, moving as quickly as possible.

' _Shit, shit, c'mon!'_

Urging himself onwards, although the adrenaline was slowly wearing out now, he began climbing up the right side of a wall, using various protruding bits of metal as hand and foot holds. Gritting his teeth he jumped over the gap and finally landed on the ledge the figure had been standing.

Right away he saw it was the end of a tunnel. Towards the end of a tunnel was a male figure walking away.

Mike pulled out the rifle. _'It's him, that's gotta be the guy...for Jess...'_

He pulled the trigger only for the gun to jam.

Mike's anger gave way to dismay at that and he cursed angrily.

"What? Come on, come ON!" He growled throwing the now useless gun aside. "Piece of shit..."

Looking up he saw the man jumping down a hole and a gate beginning to close.

"Christ!" He yelled as he took off running. "Gotta make it!"  
He dropped and slid along the ground, only just making it past the gate before it fully closed. Catching his breath Mike struggled upright.

' _Dammit, gotta keep after him, can't let what happened to Jess...'_

He shook his head, he had to focus on following and finding out who this guy was, then he'd get his revenge. Spotting an older style lantern Mike quickly claimed it, turning it on with his lighter before picking it up and following the path the figure took.

He leapt down the hole and made his way out of the mines and into the snow.

"Oh fuck." He muttered as the cold finally bit at him.

But then he saw it, a strange large building in the distance, he could just make out the man he saw earlier, walking up the path towards it.

"Jesus..." He whispered to himself. "The fuck is that place?"

He slowly, carefully began to follow the path himself.

* * *

 _Washington Ski Lodge Interior_

 _Time: 00:41 (Seven hours Until Dawn)_

Slowly, with his head pounding from the blow he had received, Chris recovered consciousness.

"Ungh, ugh..what the fu..." He groaned.

He slowly stumbled to his feet, picking up a flashlight that had been put next to him.

"Oh no..." He choked out, remembering what had happened. "Ashley!"

He immediately looked around seeing no sign of her, he began to search, looking around wildly, using the flashlight to aid him.

"Ash...ASH!?"

He just exited the kitchen and spotted something on the floor, picking it up he saw it was Ashley coin purse.

"Not good..." He muttered. "Not good at all."

He hurried onwards searching all the more frantically after seeing a horrific sight, bloodstains decorating a wall, recent. He began to fear for Ashley's life.

' _Please don't let her be, please...'_ He thought desperately.

He soon spotted a door that led outside, wide open. He hurried out and began calling out as he began to follow the path.

"Ash! ASHLEY! Ashley! Anyone out there? Ashley? Ash... ? ASH?!"

But all his calls went unanswered only increasing his panic.

He came to a fork in the road and initially tried to turn left, only for a mannequin to spring up, clad in a scarecrow mask.

"WHOA!" He cried out, utterly aghast. "What in the hell? Who would do this?"

Looking past it he was greeted by the unwelcome sight of a severed pig's head. Shivering in disgust he turned and followed the other path, heading towards the old shed, he quietly entered, not seeing anything save what the light from his flashlight showed him.

He bit his lip as he slowly walked. _'What is going on here, wait that's, that's...'_

He could hear quiet sobbing and immediately recognized the person crying as Ashley. Just then a cage dangling from the roof fell, nearly landing on him.

He leapt back. "HEY, GOD DAMMIT!"

"Chris…?" Ashley called out, hearing him yell.

Reacting at once Chris looked around wildly.

"Ash I'm here!"

"Please..." She choked out through sobs. "Help me..."

Trying to follow her voice Chris spoke again. "I'm comin' Ash – just kept talking to me! What happened?"

"Chris, he tied me up..." Ashley sobbed. "I can't move!"

Even more worried than ever now, terrified for her safety, Chris spoke again. "Ashley, I'm gonna get you out of this, don't worry!"

"I'm really scared Chris!" She replied; her voice trembling. "Hurry, please! Oh god Chris! You have to get me out of here before he comes back!"

Chris continued to follow her voice until suddenly a light flared, revealing a horrific scene.

Chris gaped in sheer horror at the sight before him, a mesh cage prevented him from getting any closer, there was a small gate set in the cage on his right hand side, but it was clearly locked. Before him was a lever, in the middle position, it could be turned left or right.

What disturbed him most was that on the panel behind the level, two pictures, of two very familiar people were shown. Looking up he saw Ashley and next to her, out cold, was Josh, they were attached to a large metal board, held up by their arms, secured in chains.

Beneath them was mine cart tracks which joined into a single track. What chilled Chris to the bone however was the mine cart itself, sitting at the end of this track, on it, situated so that it would be at waist height of the two captives, was a coldly gleaming circular saw.

"Unnghh...Chris..." Ashley spoke weakly, squinting against the light. "Are you there?"

Before Chris could respond another voice, distorted, spoke up, coming through speakers.

"Hello."

Ashley screamed and Chris jumped, looking around.

"And thank you all for joining me." It continued.

Freaking out now Ashley cried out to her fellow captive. "JOSH! Oh my GOD, JOSH WAKE UP!"

"Huh?" Josh groaned as her finally recovered, horror dawning as he realized his position. "What…? What is this?"

Acting frantically Chris tried to open the door, to force it, but to no avail.

Detached and casual, the distorted voice continued. "Tonight we're going to conduct a little experiment. A sort of test."

Just hearing those words struck fear into the hearts of all three of them.

Trying to struggle against his bonds Josh cried out.

"Ashley, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know…!" She screamed, totally freaking out.

Chris found himself breathing heavily, his heart thumping, terror coursing through his veins, what was going on, was he going to watch his friends die, was this saw he could see before him…

"Now, for this experiment." The voice continued. "We'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects... Joshua and Ashley..."

"Holy shit, oh my god..." Josh gasped as he realized with dawning horror what that meant.

Ashley too realized and took another panic attack.

The voice then revealed the true horror of its plan. "But we're going to need more than one brave participant to help decide... which subject will live, and which will die."

"OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!" Ashley screamed, completely losing it.

Josh sadly wasn't much more composed himself. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU MANIAC!"

"Please, please, please, everyone calm down." The voice stated in a matter of fact tone. "It's all very simple."

Chris shook his head. _'Simple, what's fucking simple about this, psycho?'_

Chris realized then that this person had to be the masked man who had attacked him and Ashley earlier.

The psycho then gave his instructions.

"Christopher, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do... is choose who you will save!"

Chris froze, this whack-job was forcing him to choose something so horrific, he had to kill either Ashley or Josh, in order to save the other.

Ashley broke into a blind panic again, just as she began recovering from the last time. "Oh no... please! This can't be happening...! Oh god oh god oh god...! This isn't right..."

"Shit... shit... no!" Josh cried out, before forcing himself to calm down. "Okay... okay... okay... okay, this is gonna be okay..."

Chris paced back and forth, panicking himself as the stress of what he had just been told hit him hard.

"Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap." He muttered to himself frantically.

Josh tried to reason with him, while Ashley pleaded desperately.

"Dude... buddy... Let's just think about this for a minute..." He said as calmly as he could.

Ashley began crying in despair. "Oh my god! CHRIS! You CAN'T LET ME DIE!"

"Just, just, just..." Chris stammered, feeling dizzy from too much pressure. "Gimme a second, I, I can't think straight, shit..."

They watched him frantically as he thought about it. He thought as quickly as he could, about everything, his friendship with Josh, his crush on Ashley, too much was whirling through his mind. He soon made his choice however, no matter what he chose it would be gut-wrenching to him, but he went with his heart.

"Ashley, I'll get you out of this, I won't let you die!" He cried.

Ashley's relief was palpable. "Oh God, thank go! Oh thank you, thank you!"

"NO, please no!" Josh cried out; shock and anger waging war over his features.

Hand trembling Chris turned the lever and the saw blade started up, the tracks points switched and the cart began to slowly move.

Seeing the path the cart was taking, Josh cried out.

"AAHHH! NO CHRIS!"

The Psycho spoke again, Chris could almost hear his grin. "Ah...I see. You have chosen...to save Ashley."

"Oh...Oh no..." Chris stammered, unable to believe he had to make such a choice and now watch the consequences. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

"OH GOD JOSH!" Ashley screamed, realizing what was about to happen.

Freaking out entirely, Josh began screaming at him, Chris spoke across him at the same time, while the saw blade edged ever closer.

"I thought we were FRIENDS man! I thought we were FRIENDS why would you DO THIS!?" Josh yelled desperately.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! THIS IS MADNESS, PLEASE!"

The saw blade was nearly reaching Josh and he cried out again.

"NO! OH GOD WHAT DID I DO-!?"

He never finished his statement for at that moment he just screamed as the saw started to cut him open.

"Stop it, you can't do this, please no!" Chris screamed. "Oh Josh, Josh I'm so sorry!"

Hearing Josh's screams Ashley continued to freak out, eyes clenched shut. "OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Josh only stopped screaming once the saw finished its bloody work, and just like that, it was over. Ashley, now spattered across the left side of her face and clothes with the blood, began to turn her head.

Not wanting her to witness the horror that was nearly making him throw up, Chris spoke sharply. "No, no, no, D-don't look Ashley, don't look!"

"Why can't I look, Chris? Please tell me he's okay, please...!" Ashley pleaded, yet conceded to Chris' words, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

At that moment the gate opened and Chris rushed in.

He quickly got to work, trying hard not to look at Josh's corpse for longer than he had to.

"I'm coming Ash, gonna get you..." He said as he began untying her, she wept, either in terror or relief, or maybe both, he couldn't say. "Shhh – stop, please- Come on, come on, let's get you down... come on... we're gonna get you out of here…"

Ashley finally felt the ground beneath her feet and Chris began escorting her away.

' _He saved me, he and Josh have been friends for years...'_ She couldn't but think to herself. _'But he chose to save..._ me _.'_

She opened her eyes only to scream in dismay at the sight of Josh's mangled body. Chris quickly covered her eyes and began escorting her, sobbing and shaking from the shed. They kept going, both in tears and both traumatized by what they had just been part of.

"Chris, Ashley!" They heard Matt's voice calling on them.

Looking up they spotted him and Emily, rushing over to them. Emily's eyes instantly widened when she got a good look at Ashley.

"Blood, Blood!" She gaped. "Whose blood is that Ash, Chris what happened?"

Matt was immediately worried, asking if they were okay.

"J-Josh..." Chris choked out through his tears.

"Josh what dude?" Matt asked softly, seeing Chris' distress.

Breathing shakily, Chris admitted. "He's dead...Right in front of us man-"

Both Matt and Emily froze at that.

"What are you talking about?" Emily demanded at once.

"There's a maniac..." Chris choked out.

"Maniac?" Matt echoed, his worry now increasing tenfold.

Emily shook her head. "Oh my god, we gotta get outta here."

Matt however was confused. "I don't understand, what happened?"

Chris tried to compose himself but couldn't.

In the end he gave a broken and choked account of what had happened in the shed.

"There's a maniac! And... he was- there was a saw... and it was either him or Ash and I didn't know what to do!"

Ashley sobbed at that and Chris continued.

"Cut right through him and- spilling out fucking everywhere-"

Emily reacted in horror and utter disgust. "WHAT!? OH my god Chris what!?"

Chris whimpered as he added. "I-I killed him!... I-I killed him..."

He kept lamenting that one fact while Emily and Matt tried to calm him down, Emily still insistent on going to get help.

"We're gonna figure this out man." Matt said, trying to reassure Chris.

"Matt, we need to go get help, now." Emily said firmly.

"Em..." He replied, shaking his head. "We should look for the others."

Shaking her head Emily shot back. "Mike and Jess are off 69'ing each other and who knows where Sam is."

Chris then realized to his horror. "I think she's in the lodge-"

He didn't need to finish, that she was there, all alone.

"Fine, fine." Emily replied, keeping a cool head. "You're right. Get everyone else together. But if there's a maniac running around I think we need to get some help, too, right? Not just wait around?"

Matt wasn't so sure. "But what about-?"

Emily was vehement however. "Why are we still talking about this? Let's go!"

Finally recovering their composure enough to agree, Chris and Ashley immediately headed back to the lodge while Emily and Matt began heading for the cable car station, determined to find anything that would aid them in sending for help.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

End of chapter 4 now, things get more and more freaky as the Psycho now makes his presence known and claims his victim, via proxy, forcing Chris into a horrible choice, what awaits our intrepid heroes now, especially Sam, all alone in the lodge, with the Psycho on the loose.


	11. Chapter 5 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 5 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks and yeah, it was, especially for Ashley and Josh, then of course, imagine what poor Chris had to go through, his best friend or the girl he loves.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Part 1: A Difficult Pursuit**

 _Therapy Session_

Back in the Doctor's office, the figure couldn't help but note that while looking as run down and crazy as before, the office had acquired a new décor. A wooden chair sat by the window, on it a mannequin with both hands on its knees, a circular saw blade driven into it's head and red liquid, disturbingly looking like blood splattered down its neck.

The head was turned _towards_ where the figure sat. Dr. Hill himself was once more enjoying the view from outside his smashed, partially boarded up, windows. With a short laugh he noticed the figure, rubbed his hands together and walked over to the mannequin, lightly flicking the saw blade with his index finger before walking over to the desk and leaning against it, resting his legs on the side of the desk.

"Hello again." He greeted, his voice oddly strained. "Things are getting pretty tense out there aren't they? Is the night going the way you hoped it would?"

The figure shrugged and replied casually. "It's going fine."

Straightening up, the Doctor shook his head. "Hmm, I see, and you think these poor people are getting what they... _deserve_?!"

The figure was growing impatient and shook his head, demanding. "What do you want?"

I am _trying_ to help you. And this " _game_ " you're playing... you understand that it's not good for _you_.. It's not good for _anyone_." He explained, before admonishing the figure. "And I can't say that you're being particularly charitable in the way you're "playing''!"

With that he turned and walked towards the window, crossing his arms.

Thinking the session was over, the figure began to stand up, suddenly, with a flash of lighting, Dr. Hill seemed to materialize right in front of them, getting in their face, making them fall back into the seat.

"Do you _intend_ to continue, with this elaborate self indulgence?" He demanded in a hostile tone.

The figure glared back and replied. "You're freaking me out."

Dr. Hill looked thoughtful for a second before suddenly asking. "Do you even believe _I_ am _real_?"

"You don't exist." The figure replied at last; hoping for a way out.

Dr. Hill just chuckled. "Ah, the heart of the problem. It all comes down to this: can you _really_ tell the _difference_ anymore?"

There was a slight pause, the doctor gave an eerie smile and added. "I doubt it."

Before casually strolling off to the window, ending the session for good this time.

* * *

 _Mountain Sanatorium_

 _Time: 01:03 (Six hours Until Dawn)_

Mike crouched by a wall, near the building he had seen. He ached all over from his constant running, the cold bit into his body and he was still trying to process what he has seen back in the mines, with Jess.

"Jesus." He muttered, ducking down before he was seen.

The stranger he had followed from the mines, the one he was sure was behind what happened to Jess, was walking up the path towards the building. Mike had heard growling and, peeking over the wall again, saw the stranger wasn't alone. Two wolves were with him, the stranger began to turn his head.

"Dammit." He muttered, ducking again.

He watched as the stranger seemed to close a door in the side of the building, before moving to the front of the building and entering.

"Alright..." Mike muttered to himself. "Let's get a closer look."

He grunted, trying to ignore the pain as he climbed over the wall, still carrying his lantern.

Walking towards the building his mind replayed those last horrifying moments again and again. _'Dammit Jess, I'm so sorry, I...I...I swear I will get this guy, he will pay for what he did to you.'_

He paused by the door; he wondered if he should risk it. Then decided to check what the stranger had been doing first, in case it offered an alternative. He soon figured out where he was when he came across a sign on the building, labelling it as condemned, yet also identifying it as a sanatorium.

"Awesome. Why wouldn't I end up on the creepiest place on planet earth?" Mike remarked sarcastically.

He reached where the Stranger had been and found a metal plate against the wall.

Grunting and muttering in exertion he pushed it aside to reveal, just as he had suspected, another entrance to the sanatorium, leading into the basement by the look of it. He carefully clambered in and jumped down to the floor before looking around.

"Dammit, alright..."

He knew he was going blind here, the lantern was his only light source and he had no idea of the layout of the building.

Still he continued onwards, searching the building as thoroughly as he could, there wasn't much room to move about, but he saw a hole in the ceiling, if he get up to the elevated path, he could then hopefully find something to use to climb through it, that would hopefully take him into the main building.

Careful searching turned up a barrel which he set the lantern on and, preparing himself, he began pushing it until it was in perfect position. Retrieving the lantern, he climbed onto the barrel and up onto the elevated path.

He couldn't believe his luck when he found solid footing in the form of a broken machine on it's side, right underneath the hole. He wasted no time climbing up and poking his head out of the hole, seeing his immediate surroundings.

"Whoa, that's different." He commented as he pulled himself up onto what appeared to be the main floor of the building.

The sanatorium was in complete disrepair, it was clear some parts of it had completely collapsed, there were fallen walls, Mike was certain some of the doors were busted. The only plus side he could see right now was he was out of the snow, away from the freezing cold.

It helped him focus his mind on his pursuit, his determination for vengeance. Knowing he had to start somewhere he approached the first door that didn't seem to be a dead end, apparently leading to the chapel, according to the sign. Peeking through a window by the door he saw the stranger again, throwing something to the two wolves who began eating it.

"Whoa, what the…?" Mike whispered, praying it an old fashioned dog bone or animal meat and not human.

Trying the door he found, to his frustration, that it was locked, he needed a keycard of some sort. He peeked through again and saw the stranger was gone and the wolves were just leaving. Mike had no choice now, he'd have to search wherever he could, leaving no stone unturned, to find the keycard.

Turning away from the chapel he began his search in the very hall he was currently in. All his search turned up here was administration notes to the sanatorium staff about the arrival of a group of miners who had been caught in a cave in at the mines, it was dated 1952 and Mike suddenly remembered the map he had found when he and Jess had passed through a section of the mines, detailed sections of the mine that were unstable.

The notes also mentioned that the press were being forced away from the building.

Mike couldn't deny he didn't like what he was discovering, what appeared to be a decades old cover-up. He continued his search however, all this could wait until he found that man and made him pay.

' _Gotta keep moving, c'mon, it's gotta be here somewhere.'_ He told himself.

However he was once more confronted with the 1952 mine mystery when, while searching the admin office he came across a broken camera and a partially opened safe with a wooden stake next to it.

"Whoa, someone really wanted to take a peek inside." He noted before finishing the job.

Inside he uncovered thirty clocking-in cards for miners. He deduced then that this was the number of miners caught in the cave in. He still couldn't understand about the broken camera however, only that the damage looked deliberate.

Mystery was piling upon mystery here, Mike briefly considered that maybe, this stranger was looking into this 1952 mystery and these were clues he had gathered. It appeared the sanatorium, which seemed the center of said mystery was also, conveniently, his base.

Shaking his head Mike reminded himself. _'But then, why attack Jess, what is he hiding, what is he up to?'_

Resuming his search for the keycard, Mike began heading down the corridor, towards what the signs indicated was the morgue, just what he needed to cheer himself up.

There were still a couple of offices, just before the steps leading down to the morgue, that were accessible, so Mike checked them first. In the first office he found an old newspaper detailed an assault on a reporter, suddenly making sense of the broken camera.

"Huh, intrigue on Blackwood Mountain." Mike mused.

It was clear now, something was definitely being hidden here, covered up, especially when the other office yielded medical reports that did not tally with Mike's findings so far, report on only twelve miners, not thirty, eighteen were unaccounted for.

Perplexed but by no means distracted Mike made his way down the steps towards the morgue. In the outer corridor he came across a partially open room, debris prevented him from actually entering but he could see a bird sitting on a table right by the door and embedded in said table was a machete.

' _Urgh, just great...well, I think I'm gonna need a weapon...better than nothing.'_ He told himself before reaching it.

The bird cawed and flew away while Mike was able to finally pull the machete free. Grimacing he stuck it in his belt and continued his search of the morgue itself. Noticing an odd shape behind a curtain he pulled aside to find a restraining chair, soaked in blood.

"Holy shit..." He gasped. "Ugh, what happened here?"

His continued exploration of the morgue offices and rooms led him to find another part of the 1952 mystery, a telegram which seemed to indicate there was indeed only twelve miners brought to the sanatorium, but thirty had indeed gone down the mines that fateful excursion and that a massive cover-up was underway.

Mike shook his head at the fear of reporters flooding the place. _'_ _Gee, who wouldn't want press snooping around in this paradise?_ _'_

His search led to another room, of which he could not identify the original purpose.

Whatever the room used to be, it now only featured several tables and boxes and, strangely enough, a moving arm attached to a table, which jerked back and forth at irregular intervals.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa?" Mike spluttered, startled as he approached. "Is this what he was feeding them?"

He shuddered at that, had the wolves devoured human flesh. He then saw a note attached to the hand and tried to pull it off to examine it. What happened next happened so fast, Mike barely had time to react the way he did.

The cover on the table fell away and a bear trap snapped shut, clamping around the fourth finger and smallest finger of his left hand. Mike screamed in agony and tried futilely to free his fingers.

"Ugh, ah, fuck!" He cried out.

He had to do something. He then remembered the machete. Trying hard to focus through the pain, he examined the bear trap, too rusty to open, there was only one option.

' _You have got to be fucking kidding me, this can't...'_ He thought desperately as he drew the machete and moved it into position. "Shit. Oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit! Fuck... ugh!"

With one clean slice he amputated the two fingers caught in the trap and screamed in agony again. Trying to force himself to work through the pain, he spotted an unused first aid kit lying nearby and quickly retrieved bandages, tightly wrapping his fingers to staunch the bleeding and bind his wounds.

He shook his head, trying to calm his frantic breathing. _'Shit, can't believe I...urgh, never...have to cope with it for now. Just pray it doesn't get worse.'_

He slowly calmed down, trying to will himself to continue on, looking around at the doors around him.

"Eeeny... Meeny... miney... moh... catch a tiger by the toe... if he... Let him go... I don't know where the fuck to go... okay..." He muttered, picking up the machete.

Luckily he got a hint as he approached one door, the temperature dropped. Mike recalled from the various crime dramas he sometimes saw that morgues had to be relatively cold places. It had to be through here.

Entering the morgue he was face to face with a strange, deformed but still human skull on a shelf.

' _This place just gets better and better.'_ He thought sarcastically.

Continuing his search he found, to his frustration that the door out was locked and required a keycard, the same keycard he needed for entering the chapel too.

He growled as he turned to survey the room again. _'You've gotta be kidding.'_

There was only one place he hadn't searched, three actually. Three body drawers, the only ones not rusted shut. Forcing himself Mike examined them, two brought out a name tag of a man named Nicholas Bowen, the second a death certificate for a Sarah Smith.

It was clear they were part of the 1952 mystery, especially the death certificate which seemed to indicate that Sarah had been partially...eaten, by something with very human teeth.

Opening the third drawer, Mike thought disgustedly to himself. _'Okay, is drawer number three the winner?'_

It was as inside was an uncovered body, Mike nearly threw up, especially when a rat climbed out of the corpse's mouth. Containing himself he was able to spot just what he needed, the chapel keycard, on the body. He picked it up and turned away gratefully.

He reached the locked door again, unlocked it and, taking the keycard with him, entered the next corridor, which appeared to be in the back part of the chapel. He began climbing the stairs when he was ambushed by one of the wolfs.

Crying out he ran for his life, the wolf right on his heels, growling and snapping at him.

With a mighty effort, Mike escaped the wolf, slamming shut the door behind him. Fighting desperately for breath, pretty sure he was going to give himself a heart attack at this rate, he realized was in the upper levels of the chapel and could see down below.

He needed to get back to the chapel's main door. So he followed the path and climbed down a fallen staircase.

"Oh, right, back in here." He muttered with relief.

He was back in the main entrance, steps away from the chapel main doors. He hurried over as best he could in his weakened state and opened them before entering.

Just then he heard the growl and turned sharply to his left, the other wolf was there, growling at him. On instinct, Mike almost lashed out, but then told himself not to, instead he stepped back, holding up his hands. The wolf growled, but in a less threatening manner.

"Okay...okay..." Mike said softly. "Easy boy, easy, easy...that's a good boy."

He gently reached edged to the side and the wolf let him pass, settling itself down on the floor. Mike let out a relieved sigh and began to examine the room, his first point of interest in the run down, rubble filled chapel was a wooden chest, filled with bones.

"Maybe this'll keep the wolves fat and happy." He said to himself, almost laughing in relief.

It seemed his earlier concern had been wrong. Taking one of the bones he approached the wolf and whistled, getting its attention. He held out the bone and the wolf slowly came closer before gently taking it from his hand, Mike stroked the wolf and smiled as the animal seemed much more friendly now.

One he finished patting the wolf, Mike resumed his search around the room, now no longer paranoid about being attacked from behind by the wolf. He spotted a cigar bow on a table in the middle of the room and recognized the brand from the cigar stub he had seen earlier that night.

' _Ahh... the stogie stash exposed.'_

Something else caught his eye, a wall that was covered in various newspaper clippings, all of them about strange disappearances and did not make Mike any happier about the man he was pursuing.

One thing he did benefit from his search was a slightly tattered olive green army jacket. Smirking he pulled it on, relieved for the extra heat it provided.

"So...what have we here?"

Through a gap in a mesh fence, just behind where the jacket hung, was a gun. Reaching in Mike tried to grab it but couldn't reach it.

"Come on!"

Shaking his head he instead reached lower, to a leg holding the shelf against the wall and, with a bit of effort, pulled it off, making the gun slide into his hand. He smiled, he still had the machete, and now had a gun, now he felt he had a better chance.

Approached the door at the back of the room, the only possible exit the stranger could have taken, Mike shot the lock and moved into the next room. Searching this area unearthed only a large stone memorial to 'the miracle men' the twelve surviving miners, still with no mention of the missing eighteen.

Following the large staircase downwards into an underground area, he found another gate blocking his path and several barrels.

"Of course it's locked." He muttered.

Shoving an empty barrel out of the way he took aim and fired, breaking the lock.

But his victory was short lived as he tried to go through the gate, for he then saw the fire. Some of the barrels will filled with flammable liquid, some had spilled onto the floor and the sparks from shooting the lock had ignited it. Seeing this he began to back off.

"Shit, shit, shit..." He cried out as he tried to flee. "URGH!"

He cried out as the small explosion occurred, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	12. Chapter 5 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 5 part 2 of my Until Dawn Novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Part 2: Seeking and Setbacks**

 _Cable Car Upper Station Path_

 _Time: 01:05 (Six hours Until Dawn)_

The Psycho smirked as he watched the cameras, his face still hidden by his white and red terror clown mask. His black jumper suit allowed him plenty of easy movement, black gloves and boots covered his hands and feet. The camera showed various areas all over them mountain.

Including footage of Sam in the bath. Chris and Ashley on their way back to the lodge and Matt and Emily, just entering the area with the upper cable car station, the gate closing behind them. The Psycho reached out and casually tapped the mouse button, locking the gate. Then he stood up and left, he had an appointment to keep, with his next target.

* * *

Emily and Matt walked together, mostly quiet, still processing everything that had been revealed to them.

"I can't believe Josh is dead." Emily said at last.

Matt sighed sadly. "I can't believe how he died..."

Emily shook her head however. "No, I mean, what if they were wrong?"

"What?"

She turned to him. "Maybe we should've checked the shed, to see if it was really true."

Matt grimaced at that.

"I don't know..." He replied hesitantly. "There are some things that, once you see them, you can never unsee them."

Emily sighed, shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I guess...But some things you have to see for yourself."

Matt shuddered. "I'll take their word for it."

Emily did not reply, apparently thinking that maybe Matt was right, or she just didn't want to press the matter further.

The duo approached the cable car station, only to note something odd, yet in a way, a blessing in disguise, what with there being a psycho running around. An axe was lodged in the door to the cable car station.

"Look, an axe..." Matt saw it first. "I feel better with an axe."

Emily nodded, now they'd have a means to protect themselves. Matt pulled the axe from the door and Emily stepped forward to try and open it.

But to her surprise, it wouldn't open. "Oh what now? This is locked Matt!"

Matt sighed and shook his head.

"Well, break the door down will ya?"

Matt realized right away what she meant but knew the risks, he had to warn her.

He shook his head.

"Whoa, wait a second." He told her. "We start smashing shit down he's gonna hear us."

Emily rolled her eyes. "You got any better suggestions?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno, what about...look!"

He spotted it right away and when Emily questioned him he pointed it out, an ajar window.

"That's great Matt." Emily shot back, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot."

"No come on." He urged her.

She sighed and emphasized. "You will never fit through there, big guy."

Matt groaned but conceded her point and approached the door.

Okay fine. Here goes." He muttered. "I'm gonna huff, and I'm gonna-"

"Shhh! Just do it!"

Nodding Matt attempted to smash the door down with his axe, his second attempt caused the axe to stick and he had to wrench it free, the third blow however was successful and they entered the cable car station.

Emily turned on the lights and they froze, the station was devastated, trashed, and to top it all off, threatening graffiti adorned the walls.

"Oh, God damn..." was all Matt could manage.

Emily shook her head in disbelief, uttering in barely coherent form. "What happened?"

"This is crazy-"

"We were just here, like, a few hours ago." Emily burst out. "This must have just happened!"

Matt did not like this, not one bit. "What the fuck is going on?"

They continued to look around at the devastated cable car station.

Finally, Emily came to the only possible conclusion she could reach.

"It's gotta be the guy, the one who got to Chris and Ash...and Josh..."

Matt knew what this meant and shared his worry. "He's gotta know this is the only way out."

"Oh, don't say that." Emily groaned, shivering in fear.

It was then Matt spotted the cable car, hanging a distance out from the station.

"Look, the cable car's all the way up there." He pointed it out.

Emily looked at it and bit her lip. "Well that's...I mean, that's not far right, you...you can jump it?"

Matt scoffed at that. "Ha, I'm good Em, but not that good...flattered though."

"Well Matt, if you can't jump that, what are we gonna do!?"

"I..I don't know." He replied honestly.

Emily looked around as Matt tried to find anything useful in the mess, both of them commented on the decrepit state of the station while Matt finally righted a map of the area, he spotted it.

"Hey, look, fire tower..." He pointed it out.

Emily however was more focused on other matters. "Hey. Magellan. Maybe we should get the cable car working and get this show on the road, huh?"

Matt sighed but nodded and, after being freaked out by graffiti of the word 'die' repeated over a whole wall, in paint that was disturbingly the same color as blood, Matt examined the control console and saw one great stumbling block.

The control console was still operable, but without the keys, it wasn't going to work.

"Great, no keys, no cable car. Sooo..." Matt muttered in frustration. "Back to square one."

Emily sighed but then her eyes widened. "What about the fire tower? On the map you found?"

Matt was a little taken aback. "Well, I guess it's an option..."

"Maybe it is has a radio or something." Emily replied hopefully. "I mean, it would, wouldn't it?"

Matt sighed and said. "I dunno, Em... that could work but I kinda think we should get back to the lodge for now, everyone's been split up for so long..."

"Wait. First you want to leave the lodge, now you want to go back?!" She queried incredulously before insisting. "You don't know what to do any more than I do Matt, and I say that we go to the fire tower and get on the radio and call for more help. And that's that."

Matt simply shook his head and shrugged. "Well, if you feel that strongly about it..."

"I do Matt, and I'm surprised you don't too!"

He insisted that he did, trying to defend himself and together they left the cable car station, looking for a way around. Emily spotted a way and tried to approach it, a ladder on the side of the building, but it was out of reach.

Smirking Matt joked. "What's cookin' good lookin?"

"Gettin' us out of here, Mister Meat for Brains." Emily shot back.

Laughing Matt helped Emily up to reach the ladder and they quickly climbed down it, now they could shimmy around a lower ledge of the cable car.

When they reached the bottom Emily noticed a heavy duty flashlight and picked it up.

"Look at this bad boy. You're comin' with me, buddy." She turned it on, grinning. "And just like magic. Come on, we can totally get out of here this way!"

They began to move around the side of the building, unfortunately, Emily misjudged the length of the ledge and nearly fell but Matt caught her just in time.

"Whoa, you alright?"

She gasped but nodded. "Yeah, uh...thanks, maybe um, you should go first. To protect me."

Smiling at Emily's attempt to maintain her usual persona, despite the obvious, Matt did so and soon they reached the other side, much to the relief of both of them.

"Okay...okay..." Matt breathed; finally letting the tension release from his muscles.

Emily let out a slow breath too. "Holy cannoli, thank god that's over."

Matt nodded and they began to head up the snowy path, searching for the best route to the fire tower.

"What if it doesn't work?" Emily asked suddenly.

"What?"

"The radio." She emphasized.

"It'll work." He tired to reassure her.

Emily shook her head. "But...okay, _if_ it doesn't, we need a plan."

Matt thought for a moment. "Maybe...we can just climb down."

Emily looked at hm strangely. "Climb down what?"

"The mountain."

"Are you serious?" She almost choked on her words.

Matt shot back. "What's the big deal, it's like it's floating in the sky."

"It might as well be, it's pitch black out!" Emily replied, exasperated.

Trying to calm things down, Matt gently tried to reassure her.

Unfortunately, that didn't work.

"Hey, hopefully we won't have to." He said.

Emily raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "What, you think the psychopath is just going to give up and run away?"

Matt shook his head. "No...but, maybe we should find a safe spot, hole up and wait it out. It'll be a lot easier to figure this all out in the morning."

Emily sighed but nodded, she had to admit, the late hour was catching up with her too.

"As long as we don't hide in the lodge." She said at last. "That's where he expects us to go."

Matt nodded slowly at that and soon they reached the top of the path, currently they could see the fire tower, but still lacked a path to get there.

As they searched, Matt entered a covered wooden bridge, stepping on a floorboard which gave a strange creak. Sharing a look with Emily he lifted the floorboard and pulled out a phone, one which Emily recognized at once.

"Whoa, this is Beth's phone"

Matt was incredulous. "I thought the police, like, swept the whole area."

Emily shrugged. "Well, looks like they missed this."

Sighing they resumed their search, only to find themselves standing by a clifftop, Matt grimaced, seeing it was a hell of a long way down.

"Watch where you step around here Em."

She rolled her eyes and shot back. "Yes Matt, given the choice I'd prefer not to spend my evening plummeting to my death off a snowy cliff top."

Matt's reply was cut off by an unusual screaming noise.

They both spun around.

"Matt, what is that!?" Emily cried out.

Matt shook his head. "I don't know!"

But he soon got his answer, for at that moment a horde of Caribou deer emerged and closed in on them, backing them to the edge of the cliff.

"Jesus!" Emily hissed through gritted teeth. "Shit!"

Matt glanced behind them, to the long drop. "Oh...damn..."

They were trapped.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	13. Chapter 5 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 5 part 3 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Part 3: Bathing Bird Terror**

 _Washington Ski Lodge Interior_

 _Time: 01:11 (Six Hours Until Dawn)_

Unaware of everything else that had been happening, Sam lounged in the bath, her iPod was situated on the wide edge, far enough away from the water to avoid any problems. Her headphones were plugged in and she was listening to Bach, Suite No. 1 prelude in G Major.

She was deeply into the music and rocking her body slightly in motion with the music, eyes closed. Therefore she was unaware of the black clad figure with the red and white terror clown mask standing watching her. He had already retrieved what he came for and so, it was time to begin.

He turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Sam only barely heard the door, but she felt the gust from it, as well as noticed the candle extinguishing from it too. She pulled out her headphones, pushing them and her iPhone away from the ledge completely.

"Hello?" She called out. "Guys? What are you doing out there?"

She glared and shook her head, muttering. "Being creepy?"

She got no response however. Sighing heavily she began to climb out of the bath.

"Oh...kay..."

She quickly retrieved a white towel nearby and wrapped it around herself, covering herself as best as she could. Holding a hand against the towel for added security she approached the chair she had laid out her clothes, only to stop and stare in disbelief.

Her clothes were gone, all except for one sock.

"Oh for Pete's sake. My clothes? Really?" She complained before calling out. "Whichever one of you did this is off my Christmas list. Seriously, not cool, guys. Not cool at all."

She stalked over to the bathroom door, opening it and stepped out into the corridor. She looked around and couldn't see or hear anyone. Instantly her mind flashed back to when they pranked Hannah and she felt uneasy, she glanced down to make sure the towel covered her and began to walk.

"Chris? Josh?" She called out; hoping for some reassurance from the least likely suspects. "What the hell?"

Suddenly a loud noise startled her, making her stagger back, but it was just the old grandfather clock chiming.

"Ugh, stupid clock."

She was now out on the balcony and called out again.

"Chris? Mike? Emily? This is really getting out of hand, okay?" She shook her head and continued. "It was all very funny, ha ha, look at Sam walking around in a towel, but now I just really want this to be over, alright? You had enough?"

Still no answer, but she noticed something that bothered her, next to the stairs was a balloon, with an arrow on it, pointing down them. She bit her lip and made her way downstairs, she was still damp but thankfully not dripping wet, still didn't make her feel any less embarrassed though.

She reached the lower main room and looked around, before stalking out to the front entrance.

"Can I have my clothes back now or am I supposed to hang out in a towel for the rest of the weekend?..." She demanded, only to again be greeted with silence. "Towel it is, then."

It was then something caught her eye, a strange business card for a slaughter house, on the back was a request for dead pigs and circular saw blades. While confusing Sam left it, she had more pressing issues as she returned and decided to continue following the balloons that showed up, guiding her apparently to the basement.

"Okay, if you were trying to freak me out, guess what, you succeeded." She said, more trying to reassure herself as she was getting unnerved by all this.

She found that, to her surprise, the normally locked cinema room doors were wide open. She picked up the flashlight Josh had used earlier and turned it on, stepping into the room, unaware of the masked figure in the shadows by the stairs.

"Where the hell are you guys?" She demanded. "Whoa, this is weird..."

The room was actually set up and seemed to be showing a movie, or rather, the static when a movie wasn't in focus.

Sam exhaled sharply, she was at the end of her tether now. "Hey! Guys come ON! I am DONE with this! I really don't appreciate the silent treatment here!"

But her angry tirade was cut off by the cinema doors slamming shut, by themselves. Sam screamed and again when a distorted voice began to talk.

"Hello Samantha." It said, sounding rather sarcastic and mocking. "Looking for me? I don't think you'll have much luck by looking, Samantha."

Sam looked around wildly, her heart pounding.

"What the, what the hell…!" She whispered in fear.

The distorted voice spoke again. "You're only going to see what I want you to see, and I have quite a lot to show you."

Sam shook her head. "What is, what is going on…!?"

"Open your eyes."

The large screen flared to life properly and Sam turned to face it, eyes widening with shock and revulsion as it showed footage of her in the bath.

Someone had been recording her, had seen her naked.

"Oh my god..." Her words were barely breathed out, she now felt utterly violated.

The distorted voice continued, mocking her. "She's quite beautiful, isn't she. A beautiful bathing bird…"

Sam looked around frantically again. "How, why, why did you…?"

"Do you think she has any idea what lies ahead? Do you think these were the last happy moments of this creature's life?"

An icy stab of fear ran down her spine at those words. "Why are you showing this to me?"

"Why are you watching?"

With a shaky breath Sam turned around before screaming at what was now being shown, footage of Josh getting cut in half.

"Josh!" She cried. "OH MY GOD, WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

The voice however took on a more menacing tone at that moment.

"I'm going to give you ten seconds...Nine..."

"No, no..." Sam whispered, again looking around frantically, retreating to the nearby wall. "Nonono..."

"Eight, seven..."

"Please no..."

The door burst open and Sam screamed as the Psycho entered, the grin of his mask likely hiding a sadistic grin of his own.

"Sam." He growled.

In his hand he held a canister of some sort, attached to it a nozzle and a breathing tube, connected to an oxygen mask. Sam's heart raced, there could be anything in that canister, she had to keep it away from her.

"No...No!" She pleaded.

But the Psycho began to draw closer.

Acting in a blind panic, Sam grabbed a nearby vase and threw it blindly at the Psycho, striking his arm and making him stumble. She ran for her life, running through the door at the other end of the room, she was in now in the guest room.

"Shit!" She cried out, she could already hear his footsteps. "Shit, shit, shit."

Wasting no time she leapt over the bed, flashlight guiding her path, grasping at her towel to keep it covering her body, the last thing she wanted was to lose it. She was only halfway over the bed when the Psycho burst through the door and laughed.

Screaming she hurried over the rest of the bed and straight through the guest room door, she ran along the hallway and down the basement, making sure to avoid the damaged step, it had been damaged for years and nobody ever got around to fixing it. She stopped and looked around, she was in the basement, near to where the boiler was.

Still in a panic she ducked down near where the boiler was located, a damaged pillar was her only cover and only went so far, she instantly shut up off the flashlight and waited, fear pumping through her as she squatted, praying silently.

"Sam?" The Psycho called out, slowly walking up until he was level with the pillar. "Why are you hiding?"

Sam went rigid and stayed as still as she could, praying he wouldn't hear her.

He began to move away, but stopped, further up the corridor, blocking her only path.

"Sa-am...why prolong the inevitable?"

Gritting her teeth against her terror she stayed put.

He looked around, seemingly at ease; the videos were all the evidence she needed, this man was dangerous. "Why kid yourself into thinking you can get away? Don't you know I can smell you, Sam? I can smell your fear."

He mocking tapped the gas canister and Sam opted to remain where she was. That turned out to be a mistake for he turned back, walked until he was level with the pillar again and then, leapt out the other side, behind her.

"Gotcha, so sorry." He mocked.

Sam screamed as he grabbed her and pressed the mask over her mouth and nose, muffling her screams as the gas hissed. She instantly felt herself getting groggy and realized, whatever it was, it was going to put her to sleep.

But then she remembered, the last time she had been here, what she had spoken to Josh about, what she had left, just to her right. Acting with her last strength, she grabbed the baseball bat and smacked the Psycho in the side of the head.

He cried out and fell, the mask also fell away. Coughing and trying to recover her equilibrium, Sam hurried away, turning the flashlight on again, more desperate than ever, her heart was pounding, adrenaline fueled by fear filled her, but did nothing except add to her current panic.

She reached end of a cellar corridor to find a door. She struggled to open it, only to find a problem.

So frantic was she that the words spilled out.

"Are you kidding me?" She screamed in despair. "No HANDLE!?"

She heard laughter, the Psycho had caught up, screaming she pulled the nearby wine storage cabinet down. He stopped however before it could hit him. But there, on top of it, now fallen right at her feet, was the door handle.

She grabbed it and frantically tried to get the door open as the Psycho began to step over the fallen cabinet, stepping right through the wood in his effort to catch her. She finally got through and slammed the door shut, locking it.

But there was a grill in the door that was open, the Psycho reached in, grabbing for her.

"Ahh!" She screamed. "Get out!"

She slammed it shut on his hand, forcing him to withdraw before she closed that too, it could only open from this side. But she couldn't stay here, it was getting more and more dangerous the longer she evaded this man.

She turned and ran to the door at the end, it was locked. She didn't have time to do anything other than force it. She shoved her whole weight against the door, again and again, until she finally broke through and fell down the gap into what appeared to be an underground hotel.

Wincing in pain at the jarring fall Sam forced herself upwards and looked around. To her left was a passageway, to her right, an elevator that was half down, yet the doors still opened, providing her with a place to hide.

She made up her mind at once and leapt inside the elevator.

Switching off the flashlight she ducked down and pressed herself against the wall below the door as much as possible, clutching her towel tightly. She heard his footsteps, drawing closer. She frantically held her breath and shut her eyes, praying desperately. Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest she was amazed he couldn't hear it.

"Here little kitty." His distorted voice mocked her, right above her. "Here pussy, pussy."

Her body was rigid with tension and fear as she waited, desperately not moving in hopes it would hide her presence. She dared to open her eyes in time to see him turn around, his back to her.

"FUCK!" He snapped.

Then, unbelievably, his footsteps faded as he walked away. Sam waited a long moment, until she was sure he really was gone, before exhaling heavily and allowing herself to break out shaking as tears spilled from her eyes.

She had escaped, for now.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please; I would love to hear your personal thoughts, theories and what have you.

So, end of chapter 5, things have taken another sharp turn, we've seen the horrible things that happened to Josh and Jessica, Chris and Ashley were last seen on their way to the lodge to find Sam. Now we see what happens with the other four.

Mike has found an old sanatorium and has searched it, finding another mystery, but no closer to pursuing the person he holds responsible for what happened to Jess.

Matt and Emily have still to fetch the help they planned to find, now trapped at a cliff by deer, not a good situation.

Now poor Sam has just evaded the Psycho, in a rather frantic chase that could have ended very differently had she not managed to keep her head, despite her panic.


	14. Chapter 6 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 6 part 1 of my Until Dawn Novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Indeed, yet more people due to suffer, things aren't done yet.  
Wolfigirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Part 1: Wildlife and Flare Guns**

 _Therapy Session_

Back in Dr. Hill's office, the figure noticed it had been refurbished, all the chains and rotting wood and such was gone, it now looked rather neat and opulent, with fresh crimson curtains by the gleaming clean windows. A rather comfortable chair had been added, set next to the window. The good doctor himself was standing by the window, again gazing out of it.

With almost sarcastic admonishment Dr. Hill addressed the figure. "Well, that certainly didn't go according to plan, now did it?"

The figure shifted uncomfortably, knowing what he was referring to, the little incident that had just occurred.

Lifting up a folder that he had set on the chair, Dr. Hill sighed. "Such careful, brilliant plotting... and yet in a crucial moment you are foiled by your own inadequacies. I _told_ you everything you do has _consequences_!"

He glared at the figure, who was growing edgier and angrier by the minute at the doctors words.

"Do you think this " _mistake_ " won't have repercussions? What you _do_...what you _say_... causes things to _change_!"

The doctor opened the folder, containing the image of the cottage and scarecrow seen in the first therapy session.

"Yes, all the good work we did exploring the source of your fear. And you've just gone and used it for ill." Dr. Hill said sadly. "Your overwhelming _fear_ of failure. You have turned it against these people whom you so _desperately_ want to torment. Has it been worth it?!"

He had turned, holding the picture in front of his face, so he couldn't see the chair where the figure sat was empty.

He lowered the photo and froze, the figure stood right before him, their appearance now revealed, a man in a black jumper suit, with black boots and a white and red terror clown mask, the Psycho.

With a hidden, derisive sneer, the Psycho pushed past Dr. Hill and left, wordlessly announcing his intent to continue his _game_ , despite what the doctor said and thought.

* * *

 _Cliff Edge_

 _Time: 02:03 (Five hours Until Dawn)_

Panic gripping them, Matt and Emily stood warily at the edge of the cliff, the deer surrounded them, some moving a bit closer, but they couldn't move back any further.

"Matt…!" Emily cried out, terror coating her voice. "What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do!?"

Matt tightened his grip on the axe for a minute, but then relaxed it. He forced himself to stay calm and focused. He was always the first to admit he wasn't the smartest, but he knew enough about certain subjects, animals was one of them.

He knew if they stayed calm, they wouldn't be in any danger. "Stay calm... relax... they're just deer... they just want to check us out is all…"

"No, no, no Matt they're gonna hurt us-" Emily whimpered, not at all reassured.

He gently tried to calm her and, gesturing for her to follow his lead, he began to slowly, carefully, walk forwards. He kept the axe held loose, at his side, not in any threatening position. Emily moved slowly, eyes half-closed as she didn't want to see the herd closing in on her, but couldn't let Matt out of her sight.

The deer however stepped back, or moved around them, allowing them to walk through the herd without much issue. However, amongst the deer were their close cousins, Elk. One was now blocking Matt and Emily's path. Matt stopped, prompting Emily to do the same. The Elk sniffed at him but he did not react, although his nerves were on edge, he suddenly wished he didn't have the axe.

The temptation to use it against this potential threat was strong.

Especially as more time passed, the Elk sniffed at him but simply would not back down, or even move, Matt could feel Emily getting restless and trembling, just behind him. She had practically pressed herself right up against him.

But, resisting the urge to attack, Matt slowly began to move again and to his relief, the Elk backed down. Finally, they emerged from the herd, unharmed and reached a small bundle of rocks they could climb.

Quickly doing so, both Matt and Emily emerged safely from the herd, now on the path that would lead them to the radio tower, amazingly falling into place with their plans perfectly.

* * *

 _Path to Fire Tower_

 _Time: 02:21 (Five Hours Until Dawn)_

Letting out a sigh of relief, now they were finally out of that danger, Emily began to lead the way, holding the flashlight steady again. As they walked she began thinking carefully.

"If we do manage to get someone on the radio-"

"We will." Matt insisted.

Smiling at his confidence she continued. "Then, we tell them we need help. What do we do while we wait?"

Matt thought for a moment. "I guess, we go back to the lodge and get everyone else."

"Oh God, no the lodge." Emily shook her head. "We should stay here. In case whoever it is needs to get back in touch with us?"

"Let's get that radio working first."

Emily silently agreed with him, they'd try and call for help first, then they could worry about what to do next. They were almost at the tower, now it was just above them, across a small snowy clearing. As they approached the base of the tower, suddenly a blinding light flared to life.

"Ahh, that's freakin' bright!" Emily cried out, holding a hand in front of her eyes.

Matt did the same and grimaced. "No kidding!"

Emily shook her head, frustrated. "I can't see- what is that?"

"It's just a security light." Matt confirmed at last, squinting to try and see. "Motion sensor probably."

Emily bit her lip and followed Matt, squinting her eyes until they were past the light and could see clearly again. They were now at the base of the fire tower and would have to climb the ladders to get up to the main room.

Seeing this Matt, reluctantly, put down the axe and they began their climb, with Emily in the lead. Climbing up the second ladder, Emily was caught off guard by sudden winds and nearly lost her grip.

"Ugh." She grit her teeth and complained. "Why is is so windy all of a sudden?"

Matt did his best to calm her. "We're almost inside."

They climbed the third ladder, finally reaching their destination, once Emily pushed up the hatch they got inside, with Matt closing and locking the hatch below them. They were sill wary of the Psycho following them and Matt hoped it would present at least something of an obstacle.

"You alright?" He asked Emily.

She nodded, they were inside now, it was a bit warmer and she knew what Matt had just done and why. "Yeah."

They began to look around the tower room. Finding the radio Emily tried to interact with it, but got nothing.

"Ah come ON! Great." She cried out before realizing. "No power. Gotta be a switch or something round here..."

While looking she found a locker and opened it, freezing when she saw, stuck to the door, a missing persons poster, for Hannah Washington.

She sighed sadly; guilt bubbling inside her. "Sorry Hannah, you're still missing..."

"After tonight their disappearance is starting to make more sense." Matt commented.

Emily couldn't deny, he was right, although it made her feel very uneasy.

Resuming their search they had no choice but to venture outside, into the catwalk around the tower room. Exiting through the door once they opened it, Emily searched and then spotted something, it was a box, situated against the wall, with the words 'Emergency Flare' on it. She opened it to find, inside, a flare gun.

"Ah, here we go." She thought; this could certainly be useful.

She thought for a moment and decided it would be better off in Matt's hands.

"You take this." She told him, handing him the gun. "Might need it."

Matt took it, smiling as he replied. "Aye-aye captain."

He pocketed the gun and they resumed their search. Finally they found a fuse box, Emily opened it and flicked the switch and grinned as the power flared to life in the tower.

"Fuck yeah, here we go!"

"Nice work." Matt replied; also grinning.

They headed back inside with Emily adding. "Okay, score one for Matt and Emily."

As they closed the door behind them, Emily jostled a printer on a nearby table, hitting the print button which prompted it to print out a single sheet.

Picking it up she remarked. "Oh, it's alive."

Turning it over she was consumed with guilt again, a missing persons poster for Beth Washington.

"Sorry you're still missing too, Beth."

Matt gently set the paper down, touching Emily's shoulder to reassure her. Nodding she composed herself and approached the radio.

She got to work, trying to fine tune the radio to pick up any broadcasts that they could communicate with for help. She gasped as she heard one, although it wasn't very clear.

"ranger service for Blackwood County. Over."

"Hello?" Anyone there?" She tried, hoping she could get through, she had found just who they were looking for, the people best equipped to help them. "Hello! Please say something if you're out there, please we need help! Over! Over! Shit."

There was a pause and then, suddenly.

"...Hello?" The ranger spoke.

Emily's heart leapt and Matt grinned beside her. "Oh my god, thank go, we need help, please!"

The ranger replied and it was clear that he had at least picked something up from them. "...Hello is someone trying to contact us? This is the park ranger service for Blackwood County. I'm not getting your signal very well. Please speak slowly and clearly, over."

Emily tired to but she was too worked up, everything came spilling out. "Please, please, please, please help! Oh my god, we're stuck on Blackwood mountain and there's a maniac..."

"If you can hear this, please repeat your message as I am unable to understand what you are saying, over. "

Emily grew more desperate. "We need help, please!"

The ranger continued however. "Hello? Can you please identify yourself? Over."

Emily took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She needed to do this right or they'd miss their chance.

So, trying to hard to maintain her self-control, she did as the ranger requested.

"Oh my god." She whispered before speaking slowly and clearly. "Okay, this is...My name is Emily...hello?"

She checked the tuning on the radio as the ranger replied.

"You're not coming through clearly, please repeat, over."

She shook her head and tried to explain, as calmly as possible, what had happened.

So, she cleared her throat and explained. "We're on... Blackwood Mountain... by the ski lodge... there's a killer and he's after us and he's already killed one of our friends. Oh god, please help, you've got to help us!"

Just then, the security light below flared to life again, startling them both.

"Something tripped the motion sensor." Matt muttered, before trying to reassure Emily. "Probably a fucking deer."

Emily was about to reply when the ranger spoke again.

"I read you ma'am, please do not leave your position."

Emily and Matt both grinned and relaxed, until his next words.

"We will send out helicopters to get you as soon as the storm has subsided, over." The ranger explained.

Sharing a worried look with Matt Emily tried to get clarification.

She asked intently. "What, when, how long?"

The ranger hesitated before replying. "Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn, over."

Before they could say anything else, the hatch banged loudly, someone, or something was trying to enter.

"Jesus!" Matt cried out, stepping back.

Emily backed herself into one of the corners, panicking.

"Oh my god, he's here, he's coming for me!" She cried out.

The hanging then stopped and things seemed to calm down, until the tower rocked violently and began tipping.

Emily screamed and Matt cried out, both of them stumbling as the tower sagged and rocked again.

"OH MY GOD, MATT, WHAT IS HAPPENED!" She screamed in raw terror.

Matt could only cry out. "The tower!"

At the same time, Emily yelled. "Oh God!"

The tower began to fall, Matt tried to reach for Emily but was unable to do so. Finally the tower lay on its side, Emily had fallen and landed hard on one of the windows which had cracked badly, she was now sporting a bloody nose and a scratch on her forehead from the impact.

Matt meanwhile was hanging from a support beam, clutching it for dear life.

"No..." Emily got out through the pain.

Matt then saw something and cried out. "No, Emily, Emily!"

She managed to turn, just enough to see what he saw, the printer was about to fall right on top of her. Crying out she rolled out of the way, the printer broke through the window. As she tried to recover the radio also fell and she screamed as she fell through the window, now hanging onto one of the catwalk bars.

"Fuck me, Jesus shit!" She cried out. "Shit, ahh, no, don't, no!"

She barely had time to articulate as Matt also cried out. "OH SHIT!"

As the tower fell more and tumbled down, into the mines below.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	15. Chapter 6 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 6 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, just wait until you see what's next.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Part 2: Desperate Rescue; Desperate Search**

 _Fallen Radio Tower_

 _Time: 02:43 (Five hours Until Dawn)_

"Oh fuck!"

Those were the first words out of Matt's mouth as he finally recovered, the tower had fallen and was now only just hanging, they were underground, in the mines that ran under the mountain. Moving slowly and carefully, climbing his way out the tower which shook ominously as he did so, Matt saw the tower was hanging precariously over a long drop; almost certainly too far to have good survival chances.

"Oh fuck...dammit, dammit!" He muttered.

"MAAATTT!" Emily suddenly screamed. "OH GOD MATT HELP ME PLEAAAAASE!"

Startled he moved carefully, calling out as he did so. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'! Em, this is pretty unsteady over here…"

He said it as a warning, for he now stood, looking over the edge of the tower, which was shaking some more. Emily was there, hanging onto the bars, desperate and clearly terrified.

"Matt, you've got to do something right NOW!" She screamed. "What are you WAITING FOR!?"

He shook his head. "I'm thinking, let me think!"

She grit her teeth and screamed again. "Don't think you idiot, just get me outta here!"

Matt shook his head, even while hanging precariously from a fallen radio tower, close to death, Emily still had her sharp tongue and bitchy attitude. Directed at him, the only person who had even the smallest chance of saving her, no less.

Nevertheless, he could understand the tension of this situation.

His concern for her overrode anything else. "I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, stop talking I can't take it!"

"Emily, you're upset, you need to calm down, you're gonna be fine." He told her. "Stop, yelling at me and let me work this out, okay?"

Emily bit her lip, trying to calm down. She knew she had no reason to be so worked up at Matt, he had trusted her back when they were just arriving, despite what she had actually done; going and flirting with Mike.

Something which left her feeling guilty, especially when he stood up for her against Jessica at the lodge.

"Yeah, you just take all the time you need." She replied at last; her voice softer; but she couldn't resist the sarcasm. "Not like I'm going anywhere."

Smiling a little at that, Matt nodded and tested his weight carefully on the tower; it seemed to be holding for now.

"I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up." He said at last.

With a gasp of relief she shot back. "Now will you please get me off this goddamned tower?! Please please please, Matt! Just do something!"

Matt knew he had to save her, and so began to cautiously edge closer to the ledge Emily was hanging from.

He reached out for her.

"I'm coming...here...ugh!"

Emily screamed and Matt forced himself upright as the tower shook again, falling down a bit, nearly coming completely off the rocks which were now the only thing holding it up.

"Shit, oh shit!" She cried. "Matt!"

She had fallen and grabbed onto another railing, only now, it was the last one, another fall and she wouldn't have anything to save herself with.

Matt panicked, trying to equalize his weight. "I don't wanna tip it."

All the same, he couldn't leave her hanging there.

"Oh...come on, come on..." He muttered as he tried again.

He moved slowly and soon was lying, ready to reach out. Emily looked up at him.

"Jesus!" She hissed, pleadingly.

She reached up for his hand, praying that he could save her. But then the tower shook more violently and Emily lost her grip.

"EMILY!" He cried out; watching in horror as she fell, screaming. "Oh fuck, oh fuck!"

Reacting at once, he leapt off the tower to a nearby ledge as it fell with a thunderous cacophony of noise. The landing was bad and Matt ended up knocked out.

Groaning as he woke up, Matt slowly tried to get to his feet, then suddenly, remembering what had happened, looked around wildly.

"Emily!?" But all he saw was carnage, a few bits of fiery wreckage. "Oh no, Em...Em...EMILY! EMILYYYY!"

No response. He broke down, staggering to his feet. He couldn't believe it; was she, truly gone.

' _She is, no one could survive that, oh, Emily...'_

His grief was interrupted however when something, something he couldn't see, grabbed him and began dragging him along the cavern floor.

"NO, GET OFF!" He cried out in shock, the strength of the thing was unreal. "GET OFF! ARGH! LET GO! LET GO!"

But it did no such thing, it continued to drag him, vicious and unyielding to his struggles. Then he remembered, the flare gun, he still had it. Wriggling frantically he was able to pull it from his pocket and, blind-firing, he shot, right above his head.

There was an unearthly screech as Matt suddenly found himself lying flat on the ground, no longer being dragged. The brightness of the flare going off had temporarily blinded him. But he sat up, heart hammering, and looked around, his vision clearing, he couldn't see anything.

"Holy crap..."

Shakily getting back to his feet he had no choice but to find his way out, despite being hopelessly lost. Now he also knew, he wasn't alone down here.

* * *

 _Washington Ski Lodge Interior_

 _Time: 02:03 (Five hour Until Dawn)_

Back in the lodge, Ashley paced frantically in front of the stairs, clutching her flashlight tightly. She could still feel the stickiness of Josh's blood on the side of her face and clothes. She heard the rapid footsteps and looked up, nerves on a hair trigger. It was Chris, hurrying down the stairs, alone.

"She wasn't up there?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, I didn't see her...She must have come down here."

As he said that he gestured to the signs, balloons with arrows and, at least until they faded, damp bare footprints.

Ashley shook her head. "I haven't seen her either."

Chris bit his lip, worried, using his own flashlight they began to walk around towards the stairs leading to the basement, incidentally following the arrows on the balloons. Just then, the candle to Ashley's left, on the table, suddenly lit by itself.

"Ahh!" She screamed. "Did that just happen?"

Chris was seriously getting freaked out now. "Dammit, what is going on around here?!"

They were all the more desperate to find Sam now, so they continued onwards, as they made their way downstairs and, seeing the door was open, into the cinema room, Ashley bit her lip.

"Chris..." She said suddenly.

"Sa-!" Chris began to call out, but stopped. "What?"

She shuffled her feet and shyly spoke. "Chris I just want to say, what happened back there in the shed...I know how hard that was, Josh was your friend..."

He turned to her, shaking his head. "Ashley stop."

Wincing at the massive bruise on his forehead, just above his left eye, she continued. "No, I want to say...I mean thank you- thank you for saving my life-"

Chris shook his head. Ash, what was I gonna do? I...I couldn't let anything happen to you, I couldn't..."

They both stood awkwardly, aware of the various meanings implied by Chris' words.

Finally, Chris broke the silence.

"Let's just find Sam, okay?" He said firmly. "That's what we're doing now."

Nodding Ashley followed Chris as they exited the cinema room, into the hallway, just as the door suddenly slammed shut behind them.

"What the heck!" Ashley whimpered in despair.

This was seriously doing a number on her nerves. Chris gently put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she exhaled softly, trying to relax. It only lasted until she tried to open the door to the guest room, it suddenly closed, nearly taking her hand with it.

"This is so eff-ed up!" Chris cried out.

Ashley was compelled to agree, all they wanted was to find Sam and get the hell out, she couldn't help but wonder and worry about the others.

"Wait a minute!" Ashley screamed, upon seeing the door to another hallway open by itself and seeing a ghostly figure at the end of it. "Did you see that?"

"Uhh..." Chris replied, turning. "Did I see what?"

"That, Chris, that!" She cried out, gesturing.

Chris shook his head. "What 'that' was that?"

Groaning she tried to explain. "It was like...a see through shape, like a ghost."

"Oh boy."

"I'm serious, why don't you believe me!?" She insisted. "I said I saw it, doesn't that count for anything?"

Ashley was frantic and Chris wanted to calm her down, this incident in particular was crazy and he didn't want to say the wrong thing.

He tried to help her understand where he was coming from, without insulting her.

"We've been through Hell tonight. Okay? Your mind is fried. My mind is fried." He explained; adding gently. "I don't even trust what I've been seeing."

Ashley sighed, she had to admit Chris had a point, but still. "I don't know, I don't know...I just, I saw _something_ Chris."

He gently touched her arm. "Ash, it's okay. You're just... we're both... kind of out of our heads right now. I mean we just... we gotta pull it together, okay? You with me?"

She bowed her head and he said softly. "Let's just, keep our heads."

"Are we going crazy down here?" She whimpered.

Chris didn't know, but he reasoned. "It's the only place left Sam could be Ash."

She agreed and they walked on a bit, before stopping again.

"I wish we could just go find everybody else and-"

"What if Sam needs up?" Chris asked. "What if she's in trouble?"

"Oh God..."

Just then, the door to basement opened, by itself. Steeling himself Chris gently urged Ashley to follow, she did and together they made their way down. Once down they were greeted by a loud nose, followed by a louder one and then, a cabinet to their right jerked as an item flew from the shelf, nearly hitting them.

They both leapt back, startled.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" Chris yelled. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

Ashley backed away, freaked out more than ever. "What the HELL is going ON!?"

She turned around to see a rocking horse, that was disturbingly mobile. She screamed, getting Chris' attention.

She shook her head, holding up a hand to reassure him. "Oh my god, that scared me."

"You knocked into it right?" Chris queried, before sounding worried. "You knocked into it?"

Ashley groaned that was the part that freaked her out. "I don't...I don't think so, I mean, I don't know."

She turned back to Chris; clearly upset, Chris couldn't blame her.

"How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever it was-"

Chris tried to reason with her. "Ashley, I think you're kind of ignoring what's really happening here..."

Ashley gestured and replied, actually sounding irritated for once. "Don't tell me you didn't see that translucent white figure just passing right by us?"

"We, we could be seeing things-"

"I'm not imagining things!" She insisted.

Chris sighed and replied firmly; reminding her. "Yeah, well I saw things too! I saw what happened to Josh in the shed! You know? And that's what I'm worried about!"

Ashley's shoulder's slumped, her anger evaporating.

She could see the pain and terror in his eyes.

"Oh...Chris..." She whispered softly. "I know, I know."

He just nodded and then explained. "You know what I'm really worried about? Okay? I'm worried about Sam! What's happened to her?"

He paused before adding, uneasily. "If there's some maniac out here, then, she could be dead too."

"Don't say that, please Chris."

He nodded and they continued exploring the hallway for any clues. The only thing they saw however was a large dollhouse. Taking a closer look Ashley gasped.

"Look-look look look, Chris!" She said, gesturing for him to come closer. "You can see in the windows."

Chris shook his head, incredulous. "See what, tiny furniture?"

She rolled her eyes and replied. "No, it's a whole scene, with dolls and everything."

Something about what little she could see disturbed her, seeing this, Chris thought it might be worth taking a closer look. It could be another twisted clue left behind by the Psycho.

But then they hit a snag, the dollhouse had a hidden keyhole and was locked.

"Huh, I guess you need a key if you want to play around in there." He muttered.

Ashley straightened up and looked to her right, down the end of the corridor and saw the translucent figure again.

She quickly pointed, growing frantic.

"Wait! Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris! The ghost!"

He spun around. "What?!"

She looked at him, incredulous. "Didn't you see it?"

Sheepishly admitting he didn't, Chris was revealed to be holding his phone.

Ashley glared. "You were looking at your phone, you dip! What are you tweeting?! Hashtag there's a freaking ghost after us?!"

Sighing Chris tried to calmly explain. "Ash, calm down, okay. There is no ghost here. Ghost of what? You're freaked out because of what happened with Josh-"

"You're not paying attention." She hissed. "I saw it, I saw a ghost and it looked like Hannah, it looked like Hannah!"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Chris spluttered. "WHAT!?"

Ashley sighed and admitted. "Or-or maybe Beth."

"Jesus Ash..." Chris groaned. "What do you think, they followed us up here from the seance?"

Ashley shook her head, indignantly. "I don't know, maybe!"

"They didn't, because ghosts don't exist, okay!?" Chris tried to reason with her.

Glaring she shot back. "Okay, who was talking to us at the seance, Chris?"

Chris admitted he didn't know, just in time for a scream to rend the air and picture down the hall to fly off the wall.

They watched in stunned silence before Ashley choked out.

"What did that?"

Chris was even more freaked than ever now. "How does a picture just jump off the wall like that?"

They walked carefully down the hall and, where the picture had been was a hook, on it was a key, a key that looked like it would fit the dollhouse lock. Smiling a little Ashley took it, looking back she saw the ghost again.

"Oh my GOD! There-look there, Chris you can't tell me you didn't see that!" She cried out.

Only half her sentence was finished before Chris turned out, this time actually seeing the figure and gaping in shock.

"Wow, that's..."

See, you do see it."

"That's..." He stammered. "I dunno, I-I just, this is fucking crazy..."

Ashley couldn't agree more, but they had to press on. They hurried down towards where the ghost had been, realizing it had disappeared near the dollhouse again.

"Chris..." Ashley realized. "It's showing us the way."

Chris didn't reply, so Ashley unlocked the dollhouse and opened the front and to her shock, she was confronted with a dollhouse scene, of that fateful night where they had played that cruel prank on Hannah.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is going on here?" Chris gasped.

"Oh God, it's like..." Ashley whispered.

He shook his head however. "It's not 'like' anything, that's us. Hiding there, waiting for Hannah, last year."

Ashley let out a strangled gasp; particularly at Chris saying the word 'us' when he himself hadn't been involved.

It still freaked her out however. "But it's so accurate, I mean that's exactly where I was sitting...and that's where Matt was..."

Chris noticed this too and shuddered, it certainly was freaky.

After debating what could possibly be behind this setup, their suspicions ranging from the ghost, to the Psycho, they were treated to a doll's head turning to the side and eyes opening, surprising them.

They leapt back but recovered, just as the top of the dollhouse opened to reveal something inside. Picking it up Ashley realized right away what it was.

"It's...it's Hannah's diary..."

Biting her lip she opened it and read through some pages, reaching the last entry, dated just the day before their last visit to the lodge the previous year.

"...everyone being together here...on the mountain...is gonna be so awesome...cozy fires and hot tubs..." She read aloud. "and OMG Mike...I am so psyched to spend some time with him..." I can't read this! It's so sad, Chris..."

She put the diary back and then, suddenly, froze at the sound of a door creaking open. Both sharing a wary glance they approached the door at the end of the hallway, suddenly the ghost appeared, shrieking.

Ashley cried out, jumping back, Chris ran forward, crossing the threshold of the door which slammed shut.

"Oh, Chris, Chris!" She cried out, hanging on the door.

It opened to her relief and Chris stood there, thankfully unhurt.

"Nothing." He said, looking around warily.

Ashley inhaled sharply. "But you did see it, Chris, for real?"

Chris shrugged and admitted. "I saw...something, but, where'd it go?"

Ashley just shook her head, not particularly eager to find out. She entered the next room too and they continued their search for Sam. While searching Ashley found something strange, a catalogue of sorts,, relatively recent.

"Hey, hey look at this." She said quickly. "Doesn't seem as old as some of the stuff down here."

Chris looked at it too, raising an eyebrow. "A catalogue...for industrial lightbulbs?"

"That is so random."

She turned a page and they both noticed one of the bulbs was circled, a particularly powerful bulb. Putting it aside as Chris turned away, Ashley spotted a pair of scissors, she quickly picked them up and stowed them in her back pocket, just in case the Psycho appeared again.

It was while they were searching that Ashley found a camera hidden between a pair of boxes.

"Uh...Chris?"

He approached and stopped dead when he saw the camera.

Biting her lip, Ashley asked. "You think it's the guy?"

"Well, that makes sense."

Shaking her head Ashley muttered. "I don't like being watched."

Chris nonchalantly reached over and turned the camera around.

"Better?" He queried gently.

Ashley rolled her eyes and picked the camera up, talking directly into it. "Go suck an egg!"

She put the camera back in the position Chris had turned it to.

Looking up at him, grinning at her, she shrugged. "Now it's better."

Together they resumed their trek until suddenly the lodge shuddered and Ashley looked around, worriedly.

"Uhh, what was that, huh?"

Chris however had stopped dead, looking through a doorway ahead.

"Wait, there's a whole 'nother room through here." He gasped. "It's mammoth."

Ashley groaned hearing that, she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

However she followed him and soon they both stopped, gazing in wonder at the ruin of what seemed to be an old hotel, right underneath the Washington's ski lodge.

Walking slowly onwards Ashley whispered.

"Where in the world are we now?"

"Are you kidding me?" Chris exclaimed as he too, took in their surroundings.

She turned to him. "Did you know this was here?"

He shook his head. "This? This is like a whole 'nother hotel, I had no idea this was here."

Ashley shuddered, she was finding out more and experiencing more this night than she ever had in her whole life, and she really didn't like it.

Turning to Chris she said as much. "I don't think I can take any more of this."

Chris nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm about at my limit here too."

"All I wanted to do was forget last year ever happened..." She exclaimed.

"To be honest..." Chris said softly. "I'm not sure what Hannah thought she was doing."

"Yeah well, you know how it is when you're crushing pretty hard on somebody." She said, with a rather knowing tone.

Chris shook his head however. "Great, so you're basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard of again?"

"If it was you, don't you think you would have run away?" She asked desperately. "I mean, who likes being made fun of?"

Chris scoffed a little. "People don't make fun of me."

"To your face."

"What?" He gasped.

She shook her head; looking guilty all over again.

"Chris we made her look so stupid, in front of all of her friends and the guy she liked." She explained. "I can't imagine doing anything worse to somebody."

Chris nodded sadly, both of them lost in thought while exploring the hotel.

It was during this search Ashley found something that confused her and Chris both, a bunch of newspapers, telling the story of the escaped convict, but the dates didn't add up, the newspapers were in fact fakes, something which confused both of them. Their exploration led them to reaching a staircase leading lower underground.

Ashley however was pretty much done in. "You know what, no."

"Ash-"

"No!" She replied, her voice rising. "I've had enough, I'm not going down any further into this nightmare Chris!"

He nodded sagely, he could understand her reluctance. "Ashley... I understand, okay? I'm really freaked out too. But if Sam's down there all alone with a maniac... and we leave? We're basically killing her ourselves."

Ashley bit her lip at that; she knew that Chris was right, although it didn't make her feel better. Still, with a sigh she choose to swallow down her fears.

"Goddamnit." She muttered.

"Ashley, come on." Chris coaxed gently.

"Why are you always right."

"I'm not always right." Chris corrected her absently.

She sighed. "Well, when you're right, you're right."

Chris smiled gently to her and admitted. "I don't want to be, I want to leave."

"No, no." She replied; putting on a brave face. "We gotta find Sam, let's go."

Nodding he began to descend the stairs, with Ashley following.

Thinking over everything they found as she walked, Ashley shook her head.

"Chris, I'm gettin' a really weird feeling from all this."

He turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

Ashley began to sum up her thoughts. "So we're saying that the same guy who made the newspapers also set up the camera, right?"

"Yeah... I think so..." Chris replied.

Ashley shook her head. "It's just... it feels like he's constructing the whole story for us... then watching us run around, freaking out, seeing what we do, like it's... like it's some sort of fucking experiment!"

"Yikes that... that's kinda..." Chris gasped; shocked. "That actually makes a weird sort of sense..."

Ashley nodded in agreement. Still, they pressed on, searching the corridors and finding, strangely, sets of batteries and timers, which seemed to be connected in some weird way. Entering another room that closed them in, Ashley was the first to discover the source of the unpleasant odor.

"Oh no, you've got to be kidding me, repulsive!" She cried out; covering her mouth, almost throwing up.

Hanging from a hook was a gutted pig's carcass.

"This, can't be for eating." Chris replied with a grimace.

"Why the hell is I here?"

Chris shook his head in disgust. "It's like a goddamn grindhouse in here."

Amongst the other freaky things they found was a series of hooks and chains attached to the wall and, in quite a spooky fashion, a photo arrangement, of all of them. They were more than glad to get out of that room, until they saw the next door.

Their journey led them to, of all things, a door, smeared with blood.

"Oh crap, look at that..."

"Blood?!" Ashley gasped, worried.

Chris nodded, sharing her worries. "Might be Sam's...let me see if I can get this.."

He began trying to opening, managing to do so, but seemed strained.

"Ugh, got it, but...damn this thing is heavy."

Ashley stepped closer. "Be careful!"

"You gotta come through...Ash..." He told her. "I can't hold it...ugh, come on..."

It was then Ashley spotted motion in her peripheral vision and then saw a figure to her right.

"Oh, Chris!"

"What?" He grunted.

"I think I just saw Sam over there." She said quickly, pointing.

Chris shook his head. "Ash...Are you SURE?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, but come on, I think we should check it out."

"Well I'm pretty sure whoever's bleeding came through here, okay? So we really got to get moving like now!" Chris pointed out.

Ashley pondered briefly, but in the end, agreed with him.

"Okay, yeah, you're right." She said before moving closer. "I'm coming."

With that they were able to slip through the door which slammed shut behind them. They recovered quickly and began searching again, until they came to a room with double doors.

Opening them they could see a figure, slumped in a chair.

"Oh Chris...Oh no..."

"Hello?" Chris called out, hesitantly.

Ashley also did the same. "Sam?"

They approached the chair and Ashley turned it.

"Sam!" She cried out, but then paused. "I don't...I don't get it."

The figure in the chair wasn't Sam, but a mannequin, wearing Sam's clothes. Ashley and Chris were both heavily confused and debating their discovery, both expressing extreme concern for Sam when suddenly Chris cried out.

"CHRIS!" Ashley screamed as she saw the Psycho attack him, gassing him to sleep. "OH SHIT!"

He then turned, on her and began approaching.

"AHHH, NO!" She screamed, fumbling in her back pocket. "GET BACK! Stay the hell away from me!"

He raised the mouthpiece, ready to gas her in the same way. With a scream Ashley was able to pull out the scissors and stab them into his shoulder.

"Oh, no, no no..." He cried out in his distorted voice.

Ashley looked down at Chris, praying she could do something.

"Live and learn."

"What?" She gasped, looking up.

The Psycho had recovered and with tremendous force, punched Ashley right in the face, knocking her out.

"Live..." He growled venomously. "...And learn."

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	16. Chapter 6 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 6 part 3 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you like them, well, things are about to take another terrible turn.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story, a bit of twist this time, the therapy session is set at the end of this chapter, rather than the beginning of the next.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Part 3: Love and Death**

 _Underground Rooms_

 _Time: 03:11 (Four hours Until Dawn)_

Ashley groaned while Chris looked around frantically, they had both just woken up, to find themselves in a rather bland room, except for the centre, where they were. In the centre was a table with two chairs, Ashley and Chris found themselves tied to these chairs, sitting across from one another.

Ominously a gun was situated on the table in front of them. Ashley was utterly helpless, strapped in and unable to get free. To Chris' surprise, his right hand had been left free.

"Ohh, shit...oh crap..." He muttered, looking around. "Ash, ASH!"

She lifted her head to look at him and he gasped.

"Jesus Ash, what did he do to you?"

Ashley was still dizzy and had only a vague recollection of the encounter, she was now sporting a heavy black eye, bruising all the way around her left eye.

"I think...he hit me." She choked out, wincing at the pain.

Chris growled, a suddenly feeling of rage building up inside him. "Shit, I'm gonna murder his fucking face off."

Ashley looked around frantically. "What is this?"

"This is him..." Chris realized. "This the guy who killed Josh-"

"No Chris, oh my god, no!" Ashley screamed, realizing now they had to be in some sort of death trap. "Oh god...Chris.!"

Chris looked around, fuming.

In his anger he yelled out.

"You murdering piece of shit, you MONSTER!"

"Look around!" Ashley cried out. "We're gonna die Chris! I don't think I'm ready to die!"

Chris bit his lip, he had to calm her down, it hurt, strangely, it hurt him so much, seeing Ashley like this.

He gently held out his free hand.

"No one is going to die." He tried to sound convincing.

Ashley looked at him, teary-eyed. "I wish I could tell you, it's just not fair!"

"What?" He asked confused. "Tell me what?"

"It's too late! Chris, what's the point!?"

Chris shook his head however. "Stop it, just say..."

Ashley looked at him and through the terror and tears, despite being tied to chairs and likely awaiting a death trap, Chris could honestly say, he saw something very familiar in Ashley's eyes. Something he saw in his own, if he happened to even glance at a mirror while thinking about her.

"We're always talking around it." She choked out through her tears. "And now, I mean, we've wasted everything!"

Chris spoke softly, admitting the truth at last. "Ashley...none of it was wasted."

"What do you mean?"

"Every second that I spent with you, was only thing I ever wanted to do with my time." He confessed, letting his voice carry his emotions.

"What are you saying, Chris?" She could scarcely believe it.

Was Chris truly admitted he had feelings for her, also, what a place for it.

"I'm sorry..." Chris said at last. "I should have told you how I felt."

"Chris…!" She whispered, realizing the truth at last, they both did now.

Chris nodded and began to talk. "Ashley, I swear, when we get out of this-"

But his words were cut short by a horribly familiar sound, they looked up in terror as two circular saws, situated above them, turned on and began their deadly high speed rotations, all the while slowly, but inexorably, descending towards them.

They both immediately panicked, Ashley tugged at her bonds, but they wouldn't budge. Chris tried to free himself with his unbound hand, but couldn't reach any of the knots.

"Oh god!"

"AHH!" Ashley screamed. "No! Help, Chris!"

He spoke swiftly but firmly, with renewed resolve. "Ashley...I'll get you out of this, I won't let you die!"

"Hello there, my special little subjects."

Ashley screamed and began sobbing as the Psycho spoke again, unseen but no doubt watching.

"I'm so scared Chris..." Ashley sobbed uncontrollably.

"Aw shit..." He muttered before talking again. "Don't be scared-"

The Psycho cut across him. "Oh you should be, Ash...because here's the twist. Chris has made one fatal choice already today."

Ashley panicked, losing whatever thin threads of resolve she had left. "Oh no...no…!"

"And now, he must make another." The Psycho continued. "Chris, you can take that gun in front of you and shoot Ashley...or, you can shoot yourself. Whoever is left, can live...the choice is yours."

Chris froze, as did Ashley, it was again, a choice of killing someone, as if Chris hadn't been put through enough tonight, to lay the burden on him again. Chris reacted at once however, there was another choice.

He grabbed the gun and aimed upwards, shooting at the saw, but it seemed he missed, instead shooting out the light or the bullet simply ricocheted.

"Don't be so silly, Chris." The Psycho laughed.

Chris grit his teeth, the saws were descending, he didn't have much time. It seemed that, when he made his choice, either shooting himself or Ashley, the Psycho planned to stop the saws and whoever was left alive could go free.

Chris bit his lip, he couldn't believe he was considering this.

' _What is there to think about, it'll be messy, it'll hurt like fuck, but then it'll be over...'_ He told himself firmly. _'At least this way, Ash will live...she, I can't let her...'_

Chris took a deep breath and lifted the gun, aiming it against his own head.

"Wait, stop!" Ashley screamed. "You can't do it Chris, it should be me."

He gaped, staring at her, incredulous again.

She shook her head. "You chose to save me before, let me choose this time...let me choose to save you."

She was crying again; Chris understood what she meant, she wanted him to give her the gun, so she could do to herself, what he planned to do to himself.

"Oh fuck!" He cried out.

The saws were getting closer, they were running out of time.

"If I do one last thing in my life, let me do this!" Ashley insisted before desperation took over. "Chris please. Oh god, NO, OH GOD!"

Chris remained frozen, hand trembling, he tried to bring the gun back to his head, but couldn't. With a short cry he slammed the gun onto the table again, the saws continued their descent and Ashley saw how close they were.

"NOOO!"

Chris jerked in his seat as Ashley screamed, a single long blood-curdling scream.

* * *

 _Therapy Session_

The office was once more menacing and dilapidated, the windows boarded up, the curtains ripped. The comfy chair was gone. However there were no chains or mannequin in the room this time.

The Psycho stood, smiling proudly behind his mask, standing rigid as he stared at the video monitors showing the incidents around the lodge, displayed most prominently was Chris and Ashley's predicament.

"You have gone too far now!" Dr. Hill yelled as he paced back and forth. "Don't you see, huh!?"

The Psycho brought his hand up to his right shoulder, the one that was stabbed.

Dr. Hill continued. "Don't see that this... _torture_ _porn_ has gone too far!? Now what gives you the right to play _God_ with these people's _lives_!?"

The Psycho merely shook his head, savouring his work.

"What makes _you_ so special then?! Huh?!" The doctor demanded

He then turned to the monitors and walked towards them, observing them darkly.

"You're _sick_!" He spat. "You're a _sick fuck!_ "

He quickly turned back the Psycho and demanded. "Now wha _t_ the _hell_ have you done to _them_?! Huh?! What the hell have you done to them, you _psychopath_?!"

The Psycho bristled at that, fury building in his limbs.

Seeing this Dr. Hill sneered at him. " _Psychopath_!"

Ignoring the doctor, the Psycho left again, it was time for his grand finale, he knew it, it was time for the big reveal. He could hardly wait.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Well, we end chapter 6, let's run down where things stand, as we know so far, with the characters:

Mike was last seen avoiding an explosion in the sanatorium, while pursuing the Stranger. Jess sadly has fallen down the mineshaft, just as Mike came to rescue her, a death sentence if ever there was one.

Matt survived falling down the mines and being attacked by a strange creature, but what attacked him? Meanwhile it seems Emily has fallen down the mines to an almost certain death too.

Poor Josh has been sliced in half by the Psycho's death trap while Sam has only narrowly avoided the Psycho and is now stuck, wandering around in just a towel, poor girl.

Now, Chris and Ashley have faced their own death trap and Chris, despite his initial resolve, was unable to pull the trigger, condemning them. It seems the Psycho is going to emerge victorious.


	17. Chapter 7 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 7 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Part 1: Revelations**

 _Underground Hotel, Psycho's Lair_

 _Time: 03:05 (4 hours Until Dawn)_

Sam bit her lip as she crawled slowly, edging towards the exit to the vent. After waiting until she was sure the Psycho was gone, she had slipped out of the elevator and began to look for a way out. Finding an open vent she slipped inside and began to sneak through it, stopping and waiting for quite some time, too scared to emerge in case the Psycho was in fact waiting for her.

She winced at the pain in her body, she was bruised, she had a nasty gash in her right knee, the blood had come down to cover her upper shin; her towel was filthy by now. But thankfully, none of the dust or dirt had got into her wound.

' _Last thing I want is some sort of infection, things are already bad enough here...Where did that guy even come from?'_ She thought in terror. _'What about the others, are they...what if he...God, don't think like that Sam, not until you see proof.'_

So, preparing herself; she moved around so her feet were pointed at the vent cover, she kicked at it twice before it broke open. She slid into the underground room; it looked like some sort of crazy workshop. She almost gasped in horror at the sight of it.

She shuddered. _'This must be that whack-job's lair.'_

There was no sign of him however, so she composed herself and prepared to take a look around.

She wasn't sure to start, until she saw something on a nearby noticeboard which drew her eye. She approached it and examined it, it was a sheet of paper. On it was what looked like designs, plans of some sort, for the same sort of machine that had killed Josh. Only they revealed something strange.

"This is..." She whispered. "This can't be right-"

The plans showed that it would be possible for someone to stand _behind_ where the victims were supposed to be, with his head stuck through a hole on top of a fake body.

Something about that didn't sit right with her. Shaking her head she continued to search through the workshop, searching in desks and amongst shelves. It wasn't easy she found, clutching a towel around her body, hold a torch and to search for things all at the same time.

"Wha...What is going on here?" She muttered to herself.

After all; she had just found a psychiatric report and Josh's cellphone, all of which seemed to indicate communication from a Psychiatrist who was seeing Josh and who seemed to be trying to warn him off from some sort of unknown plan, saying it was a bad idea.

Shaking her head Sam continued her search, starting to seriously get worried, and suspicious. She noticed another noticeboard upon which were pictures and letters and such, all relating to Hannah and Beth.

Sam shuddered upon seeing it. "Ugh, creep city..."

She left the room, finding herself in a small corridor.

Continuing her search she spotted what looked like an audio recorder, it already had a message on it, Sam played it and listened to the message, she was startled to hear the Psycho's voice, it seemed he had recorded one of the speeches he had either already given, or was yet to give.

The recording seemed to be a rehearsal as the Psycho seemed to falter and try again, at one point the voice recording even stopped sounding distorted.

' _Wait, that voice sounds familiar somehow, but, surely not...'_

Still lost in thought, Sam proceeded onwards, tensing when she saw, just in the next room, the Psycho was working on something, watching and waiting it seemed. Holding her breath and crouching below the rooms window, she made her way into the next chamber. What she found there wasn't much better.

' _Ho-lee, this is, ugh, sick, he intended to do_ that _to me?'_ She thought in disgust.

She felt even more violated now. For in the room was a video camera, pointed at a chair, upon which a mannequin was tied up; wearing her stolen clothes.

It was clear it was intended to be her. She now realized, had she been caught, she would have been tied to that chair herself, most likely still in just this towel, if she was lucky.

Shuddering at the thought of that and the implications of what could have been, Sam made her way towards the door opposite, spotting her backpack. Her heart leapt, due to the tightness of the ropes, she couldn't properly get her clothes off the dummy, but she had spare clothes in her bag, she could change, hopefully also find something for her injured leg.

At the very least she wanted to get some shoes on, the ground was rough and already causing more pain for her bare feet. As she walked towards her bag, she had to pass a floor level wall grate. Someone grabbed her ankle as she passed. She gasped, leaping back, trying to ignore the jolt of pain is sent through the gash in her knee.

' _What the fuck, it's him, he...no, wait…'_ She calmed herself down. _'If it was him, he wouldn't have let go the minute I jumped.'_

She looked down and gasped at the familiar face below. The young man smiled, giving her a short wave.

"Mike!" She whisper-shouted. "What are you doing down there, there's a g-!"

She stopped and composed herself, relief flooded her, at least she had found someone else. She knelt down until she was level with Mike, clutching the towel tightly to make sure it didn't come undone.

Mike nodded, shown plain relief at her being alive too.

"Oh Mike, thank God you found me." She said at last.

Mike nodded and spoke reassuringly. "It's okay, you're okay."

As he said this, he raised his hands to grasp the grates bars. Sam gasped in horror as she saw the bandages, Mike's severed fingers.

"Oh my God, your fingers! Mike…!" She cried out.

He sighed but nodded. "Yeah, and I'm the lucky one..."

"Jesus what happened?" She gasped, realizing what he meant by that.

Mike had been with Jess, but there was no sign of her with him. Had Jess fallen victim to the Psycho too.

Mike shook his head. "There's some fucking maniac up here on the mountain. He's…he's trying to kill us all!"

"Listen...the guy who you're talking about..." Sam began, shuddering. "He attacked me. He showed me these videos too, and one of them showed Josh, being killed...just, ripped apart by this huge fucking saw blade."

"Jesus Christ!"

Sam nodded and then remembered. "I think he's living down here, and whoever the hell he is, he's obsessed with Hannah and Beth...But here is the crazy thing: I found these plans, like, blueprints for a crazy machine just like the one Josh was in, but it's fake... it was for a dummy."

"Sam slow down." Mike replied, realizing what she was getting at."

Sam however shook her head.

She was determined to get her point across.

"Josh might not be dead!"

"What the fuck is going on around here..." Mike wondered aloud, before gesturing to his left. "There's a door here, it won't open, can you unlock it from your side?"

"I'll see." She replied, standing up.

She approached the door she had seen earlier and retrieved her backpack, fixing the straps over her shoulders.

She then exited through the door and looked to her left, down a small flight of steps was the door Mike had to have been talking about. She approached it quickly ans saw a wooden plank jammed across it. She quickly removed the plank and pulled the door open, she smiled as Mike stepped through, covered in grime and dried blood.

"Hey..." He sighed, relieved.

"Jeez." Sam gasped. "You look like hell."

Mike laughed a little. "Nice to see you too."

Sam just rolled her eyes and moved over to the other end of the room, moving behind some shelves which offered sadly only minimal cover.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Mike asked.

Sam replied sarcastically as she was able to finally clean the cut on her leg, as well as most of the blood. It had scabbed over so hopefully wouldn't cause any more issues, unless it reopened.

"Well actually, the towel didn't turn out to be the best outfit for fighting off killer maniacs, you know?" She paused and then gestured for him to turn around. "Do you mind? Mike?"

Realizing quickly Mike did just that. "Oh. Right. My bad."

He quickly turned around and Sam dropped the towel at last and began pulling her spare clothes out of her bag before pulling them on.

Before long Sam had redressed in a simple white shirt, a red hooded jacket, gray yoga pants and simple sneakers, a head torch was also part of the outfit, although she kept this slung around her neck for now.

"Okay, done, let's put this thing to bed." She said at last.

Turning around Mike joined her, nodding. "Amen to that."

They had yet to determine their next destination however. They soon got their answer however when they heard screaming and Ashley's voice.

"Please!"

"I can't, I can't decide!" Chris' voice could be heard too.

They each shared a worried look and ran to the door at the other end of the room, where the screams had come from and soon forced the door open. They froze at the sight before them, Chris and Ashley were strapped to chairs on either side of a table, above them, having stopped mere inches from their heads, were circular saws, still spinning.

Chris had one hand free and was holding a gun. They both looked distraught and traumatized, both were bearing several injuries. Then they all saw him, the Psycho stepped out of the shadows towards Chris and Ashley, who had been looked around in shock, mostly likely at still being alive despite the death trap.

The Psycho ominously approached and Ashley cried out.

"No!" She shook her head, struggling desperately against her bonds. "No, no, no! Get away!"

Sam and Mike started to move forwards, when Chris suddenly shot at the Psycho three times. They stopped and stared in disbelief, as the Psycho was unharmed.

"Oh Chris..." He muttered in his distorted voice. "Oh, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris."

Chris shook his head in utter shock, looking at the gun. "What the fuck!?"

"Oh you've heard of blanks before. I mean, really?" The Psycho replied, revealing the truth.

The gun had been loaded with blanks the whole time. It was then the Psycho removed his terror clown mask, revealing his identity to the aghast friends, for it was none other, than a very alive, Joshua Washington.

Chris was the first to recover.

"...Josh?" He spluttered; unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

Josh burst out laughing as Sam yelled his name, anger seething through her. Mike also voiced Josh's name, sounded just as shocked as Chris.

"Oh, oh very good." He said, sounding overly cheerful. "Every one of you! Got my name! And after all you've been through! Good, good-good-good. I mean how does that feel?"

During this time, Sam and Mike quickly untied Chris and Ashley and they all now stood, staring in shock, and anger, at their friend as he explained.

"Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked?" He queried, actually sounding a little crazed. "All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No, no, no! They're gone!"

By the end he was laughing again, actually sounding completely unhinged.

It was a veritable maelstrom of emotions for them all. Sam felt as if she had been violated all over again, everything she endured at the hands of the Psycho, seeing her in the bath, chasing her as she had only a towel on, all of it was Josh. Ashley was in too much shock to really think or say anything while Chris could only feel betrayed, betrayed by his best friend.

Mike meanwhile replied angrily.

"I don't know if you noticed this, Josh, but none of us are laughing."

Josh raised his arms and spoke. "Oh come, come-come-come-come. Why the long faces? Come on!"

He began to make expressive gestures while revealing his role in everything.

"It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle!"

Ashley remembered how the candle had flared to life, Josh had set it up to do that.

" _Ahh!" She had screamed. "Did that just happen?"_

"I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed!" Josh continued; remembering how he had created the ghosts. "It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic!"

Sam recalled the death trap plans she had seen, that was how Josh survived, Ashley had been chained up, while he stood behind the wall and put his head through the gap, onto the fake body.

"And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore!" He continued to brag. "Fake bodies... I mean, God that shit was expensive!"

The others all shared a look, yeah they had fallen for it, been terrorized, but now, now it was just too far.

"And no retakes! Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! You should have seen your faces. Hook, line and sinker, for every little stinker!" Josh cried out.

He was clearly enjoying himself, feeling as if he had triumphed.

Sam shook her head, recalling everything she had seen.

"Josh, your fingerprints were all over this." She replied. "It was obviously all you."

"Oh really? Really, really, really?" He taunted.

Sam then elaborated on what she meant. "You're crying out for help, Josh... Come on, you wanted to get caught, didn't you?"

"Oh sure. I'm totally just crying out for help. 'Help me! Oh help me! Help, help.'" Josh taunted. "Come on! Come on! It was just for fun! I mean, so you got a little bit of egg on your face, right? Nobody got hurt-"

For Mike, that was the last straw.

He snapped. "What are you talking about you ass hat? Jessica is FUCKING DEAD."

"What?" Josh gasped, suddenly deflating.

The others all looked at Mike in horror as he moved towards Josh, reaching into his waistband to pull out a revolver.

"Did you hear me!? Jessica is dead..." Mike growled. "And YOU ARE GONNA FUCKING PAY YOU DICK!"

As he uttered the last word, Mike slammed the butt of the revolver into Josh's head, knocking him out cold.

* * *

End of chapter, the Psycho is revealed, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	18. Chapter 7 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 7 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, hope you enjoy it :)

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
PokemonFreak90: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; hope you got my messages BTW. I see, well, that's your view, I personally don't see them as being more than friends, but, that's just me :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Part 2: Lonely Descent**

 _Abandoned Mines_

 _Time: 03:00 (4 hours Until Dawn)_

Consciousness slowly returned to Emily, she opened her eyes, only to instantly be struck with dizziness, her head was pounding from the blood rushing too it and no wonder.

"Oh God! Oh my god!" She cried out. "Matt! Matt!"

He did not reply, she couldn't see him anywhere; the tower had fallen down the mines and she had fallen from the tower, which was once more wedged between some rocks. The only thing that had stopped her plummeting to her death had been one of the support cables, which had tangled itself around her ankle.

She was hanging upside from the tower. "Oh...Jesus...Shit. OH SHIT! Dammit!"

She could hear the ominous creaking of metal and the sounds of the cable and knew, it wasn't good. She had to get out her current predicament somehow. Looking around wildly she spotted something that she prayed could help her.

' _That ladder, if I can just reach it...'_ She told herself. _'Need to, get across, grab it...'_

She could just make out a ladder, protruding horizontally from a ledge, level with her body. Praying the cable would hold, Emily began using her body weight to swing back and forth, trying to build momentum until finally she was able to grab the very first rung.

Just in time to, for at that moment, the cable snapped and she grunted as her body fell until she was now hanging from the ladder, holding on for dear life.

She quickly composed herself, the creaking of metal told her she wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Alright..." She whispered encouragingly to herself. _'Let's go, I can do this, just like the climbing frame in gym class...Only Sam was ever better at climbing than me.'_

She began to monkey bar her way across the ladder, as she neared the end the ladder shook violently as an object from above struck it.

"Shit! Shit!" She cried as she lost her grip.

Luckily there was a rock ledge not too far below, she landed on that and rolled over, groaning as she lay on her back. She quickly sat up however, for above her, she could see the remains of the fire tower, they were beginning to fall.

Before she could react a rock fell and struck her shin, she cried out, the sharp burst of agony nearly brought tears to her eyes. She began to push herself back using her hands and feet, remaining seated. Again she had a narrow escape, for she just got clear of the ledge and into the cave when the tower finally fell, destroying the ledge and falling into the abyss.

"Oh God..." She muttered as she winced, examining her shin, a deep cut had been left in her leg, her jeans had been ripped. She pushed herself up onto her feet and found she could stand and the pain wasn't too bad as she walked. Running might be difficult, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

She turned and took a step into the cave, it was pitch black inside. She looked around and saw a plank of wood and noted some flaming debris and an open oil drum. If she had something flammable, she could make a makeshift torch. She rubbed her shin and looked down at her sweater. It was the only thing available.

"Oh God. Here goes six hundred bucks." She muttered as she tore a long strip from the hem of her sweater off and began to wrap it around the stick. "Better be worth it, I looked great in that top."

Now her makeshift torch was ready she doused it in the oil and then lit it on the flames. Now she had light.

"Alright, now we're talkin'."

Relieved that it worked, she began to make her way through the mine cavern. As she walked she suddenly heard an unusual noise and flinched, looking around wildly.

"Hello…?" She called nervously.

No reply, the noise didn't repeat. So she continued onwards until she found the path blocked by a wooden door chained shut.

' _Great, now what...Hmm...'_ She thought as she looked down and saw the mine cart tracks.

Turning she looked up the slope to see a mine cart, braced near the top. She made her ascent, taking a moment to look around, in case she found anything else useful. But no, all she found was an old photo.

Shaking her head she approached the cart and, leaning over, pulled the brake lever and backed off. She watched in growing hope and then joy as the mine cart rolled down the hill and broke right through the sealed passage, giving her a way forward again.

She walked through the newly opened passage to find herself in a large chamber, looking around she saw something which gave her hope, an elevator. She approached and looked upwards. She couldn't see all the way up, it looked like it up to the surface, or at least very close to it.

' _A way out.'_ She realized with hope.

But that hope was soon dashed as she tried to use it. "Shit..."

The elevator wouldn't move, it had no power.

But Emily could see all the cables and such and knew it had a power source. "Okay, How do I get this thing on?"

She had to find it. So, stepping off the elevator, lighting a small, wall mounted torch she looked around. Just then she heard a loud scream and, on one of the higher ledges, a burst of fire.

"Ah!" She screamed. "What!? What the hell?"

Her heart wouldn't stop pounding and she moved with great care now, not wanting to make too much noise. All she found down here was a clocking-in machine and danger signs, warning of structural collapse.

"Fuckin' busted elevator's my only way out." She muttered, fuming.

Of all the situations to end up in, she had to end up in this one. Stuck in some cold, dark and frankly terrifying abandoned mines, only to find they were not so abandoned and she wasn't sure who or what was out there.

Deciding to brave her chances with the upper ledges she approached a ladder, leading up to a wooden walkway and began to climb.

Reaching the top of the ladder she set the torch down on the ledge and was about to pull herself up when suddenly she heard a loud metallic snap and then screamed as the ladder broke, falling away and sending her tumbling down a slope to a lower lever.

"Fuck!" She screamed out before hitting the ground. "Uggh...God damn..."

Winded, definitely bruised, along with her other injuries, Emily nevertheless pulled herself to her feet. She'd lost her light source, she had not wanted to to this to conserve battery power, but she had no choice now. She pulled her phone out and turned on its light function; immediately illuminating a bunch of rotting skulls.

"NO!" She screamed, backing away in panic and disgust. "No, no, no!"

She tried to scramble back up the slope, to no avail. "GROSS, GROSS, GROSS! Oh God."

She gave up and turned to see the skulls again. "UGH, Disgusting…!"

Grimacing she forced herself to walk past them and continue on the path; thankfully it seemed there was only one way she could go.

She couldn't help but fret however. _'I'm much deeper now however, further from the surface, further from getting out of here and...Huh?'_

She heard a sudden noise and, worriedly, she called out.

"Matt…?"

No reply; she still wondered, fearfully what had happened to him. Did he fall with the tower earlier, only to fall all the way down. That whole horrible scene kept playing in her head; What if he was dead, what if he had died trying to save her.

' _No, don't think like that, Em.'_ She told herself. _'Matt's a meat head but he's tough, it'll take more than this to kill him...surely...'_

All the same the fear remained with her as she broke through some wooden planks that were blocking her path.

She continued to explore the passage, looking for anything that would lead her back to that ledge she needed to reach. She did note a few odd things, as well another 1952 photo, this time a family photo of the same miner she had found the photo of earlier.

Biting her lip she soon found herself forced to climb a small rock wall. She managed it well enough, but it caused pain to flare up in her injured leg again, just as it had died down to a dull throb she could control.

' _Fuck, shit...urgh, great...okay, relax, keep going Em, you can do this, you can do this.'_ She encouraged herself.

She finally found a ladder which she was able to use to reach another tunnel, this one higher up. She continued to walk, looking around, just in case she ran into her boyfriend down here.

"Matt!"

Nothing; then suddenly she saw the light was flickering.

"Huh, oh no..." She cried out and shook her phone, but it was no use. "Come-on-for-fuck-sake!"

She briefly saw the battery dying image before the phone went dead.

She growled. "Son of a bitch."

Just then, beyond the tunnels, she saw a burst of flame again.

"Jesus, shit..." She whispered.

The fact she was seeing this in the direction she needed to go was what scared her the most.

Nevertheless, she steeled herself and walked onwards; she did not see the source of the fire; but she did see that she had made it to the ledge she had tried to reach earlier and there, on the ground, was her torch. Picking it up she grinned and approached the switch that control the power, flicking it she saw lights turn on, flicker and die, but she heard the sound of electricity and realized the power was indeed working.

"Oh my God, finally, something works."

Relieved she continued to follow the path into another tunnel, hoping to find another way down to the large chamber. It was then she reached another cavern, one flooded with moonlight, she jogged forwards, trying not to jostle her injured leg too much.

"Yes, YES!" She cried out.

She might not need the elevator after all. She immediately began trying to climb the slope, but it was too steep and slippery to climb. She groaned.

"Shit." She muttered, so much for that.

She continued to look around the cavern, two things stood out in the light of her torch. The first was a photo of Hannah, showing her black butterfly tattoo, the second was a pair of broken glasses.

"Hannah?" Emily gasped, realizing.

Hannah's personal items down here. That cliff, which she now realized was the same one she and Matt had been attacked by the deer.

' _She was here...maybe Beth too, they...God they must have fallen down here...'_

She shuddered at that thought and then noticed something else, partially hidden.

She pulled aside the wooden planks blocking her sight and froze when she saw several marks on the rock face, tally marks and a date.

"That's...exactly a year ago..." She noticed out loud. "What does this mean…?"

She had some guesses, but prayed they were wrong. She continued out of the cavern, following the tunnels again. She nearly tripped over something. She glared at it, noticing it was a piece of wood. But then she looked closer.

' _It's...it's a cross, the kind used for a...a makeshift grave...'_ She wondered briefly who it was for, then sated that curiosity, lifting it up to read the name.

"Beth...Oh Jesus."

She wished she hadn't now, for here it was, cold hard evidence, while there was nothing definite on Hannah yet, Beth was dead. Hannah was definitely down here however and moving around, for not far away from the cross was her locket.

Suddenly more afraid than ever, with memories of that day flooding back to her, Emily was more desperate than ever to escape, she hurried through, managing to squeeze past a partially opened door, into the next room.

She noticed what looked like a slumped over figure in the corner. _'Huh, who is that, are they…?'_

She carefully approached and touched the figure, briefly noticing it was wearing a familiar beanie hat and pink coat.

The well-preserved, still recognizable, but unmistakeably decomposing head of Beth Washington fell to the ground, revealing that the jacket was put around rocks, not her body.

"Oh God, Oh God!" Emily screamed, stumbling backwards, revulsion overcoming her. "Beth, No...Oh God, Beth, No!"

She almost felt like throwing up; this was beyond horrific, what was Beth's head doing here and where was the rest of her body. Not only that, she was yet to see any signs of Hannah's body.

' _The distance travelled, the objects, everything...could it be?'_ She wondered. _'Beth died from falling off that cliff, but Hannah, she must have survived, at least for a while...she must have died elsewhere down here...oh God...What have we done?'_

With a sharp intake of breath, Emily forced herself to hurry onwards, for she soon found herself through into the main chamber again and hurried to the elevator, pulling the lever at once and let it take her up.

"Oh, Come, Let's GO!"

The elevator stopped before the surface however.

"No!" She cried out.

She was still stuck, but there had to be another way, maybe another elevator. She stepped off the elevator and moved forwards, but then retreated, stifling a gasp as she hid.

Down the tunnel to her left, she had seen him, a man was approaching, he was clad in dark clothing, had a scarf pulled up over his lower face and goggles over his eyes, he had grey thinning shoulder length hair. That was all she really saw before hiding, that and the fact he was carrying a number of weapons, most prominently, a flame-thrower; the source of the bursts of fire she kept seeing.

She went stock still, freezing and watching as he stepped out of the tunnel, into the intersection. The light from her torch mingled with one on the wall, so she didn't need to hide it. She stayed stock still, watching him carefully.

"Oh god, please don't come this way." She whispered.

He did not move, he kept looking, as if searching for something.

But it was too much for Emily, her nerve broke and she fled, the Stranger heard her and cried out, immediately pursuing her. She cried out too, silently pleading; trying to ignore the flaring pain in her leg.

Ahead she could see the bridge was broken, in two place, despite knowing the pain this would cause she jumped both gaps, stifling a scream each time as it jolted her leg. As she ran she could hear him pursuing her. Up ahead she noticed a spilled oil patch and, acting solely on instinct, she threw her torch into it as she passed, setting up what she hoped would be a fiery barricade.

Unfortunately her path took her to a dead end.

' _What do I do, what do I do...I can't get away, I...'_ She thought frantically.

Unable to think, simply reacting, she hide herself in a crevice in the wall between two wooden boards and waited. But then the stranger reappeared and stood, looking around, before turning to look directly at her.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, can't wait to hear your thoughts as things are certainly picking up now, read and review please :)


	19. Chapter 7 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 7 part 3 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Well, we can only wait and see, things do look grim for Emily after all.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Part 3: Psychosis**

 _Path to Shed_

 _Time: 03: 41 (4 hours Until Dawn)_

Chris sighed as he walked along with Mike, they were escorting, roughly escorting, a bound Josh to the shed. It had taken them quite a while to secure him and then find their way back out of the underground hotel to reach the main lodge.

Sam and Ashley remained in the main room of the lodge, Sam doing her best to comfort Ashley who was still recovering from her and Chris' near death experience, even if it hadn't been designed to kill. Josh had woken up midway through their attempt to leave the hotel and just made things harder.

"Guys!" He yelled as Mike shoved himself forwards. "Guys, come on...seriously, this is crazy, you know?"

"Shut up." Mike replied, clearly fed up.

Chris glowered however, his mind flashing back to seeing Ashley's face in that room, the horrible bruising around her left eye. The Psycho had done it, now he knew the Psycho was Josh. That was what infuriated him the most, Josh, his best friend, had hit Ashley, the girl he loved.

"Why did ya hit her man!?" He burst out, unable to contain his rage anymore. "Why'd you have to fucking hit her!?"

With that he lost it and slugged Josh straight in the face. Josh crumpled to the ground and for once, Mike was having to hold Chris back from inflicting further violence.

"What are you talking about?" Josh groaned as he managed to get into a sitting position, despite his bound hands.

Chris snarled. "You punched Ashley you piece of shit!"

Josh looked down at his shoulder, where Ashley had stabbed him with the scissors. "I got so mad..."

"You don't hit a girl, you just...don't." Chris snapped.

Josh looked up at him, clearly shocked by Chris' rage.

He shook his head.

"Dude...dude, Chris, bro...I"

Chris cut him off sharply as Mike stepped forwards. "I'm not your bro!"

Mike forced Josh to his feet and forced him along the path again.

"Where are we going, where are you guys taking me?" Josh demanded; still startled.

Mike glared at him and spoke darkly. "Locking you up, bro."

"What?!"

"So you can't say or do anything stupid before we call the police in the morning." Mike explained.

"Come ON!" Josh complained bitterly. "I didn't DO ANYTHING-"

Chris shook his head; seriously getting tired of this. "Are you serious, _bro_?"

Mike didn't want to hear it either. "You're a goddamned murderer is what you are."

"I didn't do it." Josh snapped before pleading. "Michael please, just listen to me man! I did not hurt Jessica-"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Are you insane, like really? Do you not understand what you've done?"

"I'm a healer man, I bring people together, not like you assholes." Josh growled in response.

Rolling his eyes, Mike forced Josh onwards. "That's enough."

They began to approach the shed, the same shed Josh had set up his first saw trap trick.

Josh continued to struggle and yell at them, while also protesting.

"You only see what you wanna see!" He burst out suddenly. "You're blind!"

"Stop talking." Mike replied blandly, seriously getting tired.

"You are – argh!" Josh's words were cut short by Mike forcing him to the ground, hurting his injured shoulder.

Chris stopped, a little startled by Mike's sudden action.

"It's not my fault you suckers can't take a joke." Josh exclaimed.

Mike glared at him. "Oh, oh wait, did I hurt you? Did you just feel a little... a little bit of pain? Right now I am SO... SO... SORRY."

As he raised his voice he put more pressure on Josh's shoulder, making him scream.

"Stop it!"

"Jesus, dude." Chris gasped.

He had punched Josh, but he never intended to go this far.

"Stop...Michael, I'm sorry, man...I can't tell you how sorry I am that something happened to Jessica!" Josh yelled through the pain. "But I swear, I swear to you that I have no idea what happened to her."

Chris noted that Josh seemed to be relapsing between his usual self and a crazed version of himself, the result of not taking his meds. However his anger overrode his pity.

"Josh, be honest with me, do you really expect us to trust you, for a single goddamned second, after all the shit you put us through?"

There was a pause, while Josh grimaced as Mike forced him back to his feet.

Josh grinned, slipping into crazy mode again.

"Can't we all just get along?" He joked before Mike shoved him hard. "OW! DAMMIT!"

Mike made him walk, holding him at gunpoint. "We're not dicking around."

With that he forced Josh into the shed, all the while he was ranting.

"It's not right... nope... this is not how it's supposed to go down... You're just a bunch of bullies... You can't hang out a guy just to dry like this, guys- Not like... Not like you got the guts to really do anything about it anyways!"

"You really, really, really need to shut up, man." Chris shot back.

He was still startled by Josh's behavior; he had seen some of Josh's mental breaks at times, but never anything this bad. How long had it been since Josh stopped taking his medication.

Josh glared as Mike forced him deeper into the shed. "Oh... that's... that's... I mean, I don't even know what you mean because I don't have anything to regret."

Chris rolled his eyes while Mike forced Josh onto a stood near a pole and they began trying to untie his hands then retie them to the pole.

"Okay, tying me up now, okay." Josh remarked sarcastically.

"Stay still man-" Mike growled.

"Right, right, right, right...still..." Josh replied before slipping into a mocking tone while wriggling. "Can't tie 'em up if they just wiggle around."

Chris let out an exasperated sigh. "Josh, dude-"

"Leave me a little wiggle room, huh?"

Mike glowered and pulled hard on the ties.

As he did so he snarled directly in Josh's face.

"What does it take to shut you up?"

"Ow!" Josh glared at him as they both stood and stepped back. "Not so tight okay? Not so tight, okay! I can't wiggle around. Plastic ties. That's where it's at. Yeah."

"What...in god's name is he talking about?" Mike wondered aloud.

It became clear that Josh had slipped even further and was now talking to himself.

"Plastic ties, plastic ties. Way more effective for hostage type scenarios."

"This is hard to watch..." Chris admitted.

Mike nodded. "He ever say this kind of shit before?"

Josh meanwhile was still rambling. "Guaranteed for at least three hostages, or your money back!"

Chris sighed and again admitted the truth. "No, I never seen him like _this_..."

"Everybody is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..." Josh mumbled, before becoming coherent again and grinning wickedly. "Chris and Ash, Chris is an ass, Ashley's a dumb dumb..."

Hearing that, Chris rounded on him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Josh giggled and replied. "I said you're a dummy, dummy."

Exasperated again Chris shook his head. "What's wrong with you?"

Josh began mocking Chris then. "Ohh...Ashley...I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you'd like me…!"

Chris shook his head, he wasn't about to let Josh play this game. "Stop..."

"You know what that sound is?" Josh asked in a high pitched tone, before becoming aggressive. "It's the sound of never kissing Ashley, you pussy."

"Stop!" Chris demanded; this was going too far.

But Josh simply kept on pushing buttons.

He looked from Chris to Mike, leeringly, his thoughts obvious as he spoke.

"Yeah, you know? You might as well let Ashley sleep with Mike, I mean, at least he's got some notches on his belt, you know?" He emphasized the next four words with vulgar pelvic thrusts. "He'll treat her right! You're fucking pathetic, Christopher."

That was the breaking point for Chris; he grabbed a nearby wooden board, raising it.

"I'm gonna beat his head off-" He growled.

Mike held him back however. "Don't listen to him, not worth it."

It was then Josh decided it would be a good idea to antagonize Mike instead.

"Hey Mike." He began sniggering as he repeated Mike's name several times.

"What?" Mike replied at last, clearly angry.

Josh looked somewhere between crazed and serious. "What happened with Jess, Mike?"

Mike narrowed his eyes at that. "You know what happened."

No... No... I don't... I got a problem, Mike..." Josh replied. "I don't remember killing Jess..."

Mike rolled his eyes, muttering as he turned away,

I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know?" He explained before leering again and adopting a suggestive tone. "She's so soft... and she's probably got like a really tight bod…"

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Mike snapped, aiming at Josh with the gun.

Chris was startled, but didn't do anything, he trusted Mike, Mike wouldn't shoot Josh, surely not.

He was proven right when Mike did not actually fire.

"Ugh..." Josh groaned before yelling. "You guys are the worst!"

"What?"

He shook his head. "Oh come ON! You expect me to believe you're gonna shoot me? Just little old me? Just little old me tied up here and helpless?"

Mike sighed and shook his head, turning back to Chris.

"Why don't you go back to the lodge and make sure everyone's alright." He said. "I'll stay here with this lunatic until morning."

Josh grinned and replied jokingly again, sounding childish. "Oooh! Sleepover! C-can we order pizza?"

"You sure you're okay?" Chris asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, just...they'll want to know everything's fine back there."

"You're right." Chris replied. "See you in the morning."

So with that Mike made himself comfortable, sitting down nearby.

Chris dropped the wooden board and left, heading back to the lodge to tell Ashley and Sam that Josh was now secured. He just hoped that this was the end of it, it had been a hell of a night, he just wanted them all to be safe now, when the morning came, it would all be over.

* * *

End of chapter hope you enjoyed it, read and review with your thoughts and views please.

So, recap:

Josh has been revealed to be alive and the Psycho all along, he has now been tied up by Mike and Chris.

Chris, Ashley, Sam and Mike have been reunited and now Chris is going to join the girls at the lodge again while Mike keeps an eye on Josh.

Matt hasn't been seen since he was attacked by the creature in the mines and now Emily has had her own unfortunate encounter with the Stranger, the same man who was seen in the prologue when Hannah and Beth fell.


	20. Chapter 8 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 8 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Well, read on and see.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Part 1: Flight Into Terror**

 _Underground Mines_

 _Time: 04:01 (3 hours Until Dawn)_

Emily whimpered as the Stranger approached her, he reached out and seized her hand.

"Urgh!" He grunted as she lashed out, striking him.

"ARGH!" She screamed out, trying to get free.

He seemed to be glaring at her as he insisted. "Shhh, quiet!"

"NO, STAY AWAY!"

Just then, there was an inhuman shriek, the man turned his head, let go of Emily's hand and instead pulled a pack off his shoulder and threw it to her.

"Use these!" He told her, raising his flame-thrower in the direction he had been looking. "And get the hell out of here...now!"

So startled was Emily by this, she stumbled backwards, falling onto her butt. She pushed herself further back only to fall down a ledge. The man screamed as he fired his flame-thrower.

"Woah!" Emily cried as she fell.

When she finally landed on the ground, on her back. She groaned, only to have the bag she had been given land and bounce off her stomach.

"What?!" She cried out before forcing herself up. "Oh shit...oh shit...Oh boy!"

Muttering to herself she opened the bag and saw it was full of flares. Seeing her chance she pulled one from the bag, standing up on her feet, slinging the bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah!" She cried out, lighting her flare. "Oh my God!"

She was in another tunnel, this one looked a little older, but thankfully still seemed stable, or as stable as possible.

She took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Alright Em..." She told herself. "Let's go."

She began her journey down the tunnel. The path was pretty straight, although the ground was uneven and with her injured leg, Emily was soon walking with gritted teeth, trying to bear the pain.

Eventually she stopped; there was no direct path forward for her, with one exception, the wooden boards ahead of her were divided by a small gap. There was a narrow passage through.

"Ok, ok..." She told herself firmly. "This has gotta be the way."

So she carefully slipped inside and began shimmying along the gap.

"Shit! Shit!" She cried out as suddenly a monstrous clawed hand burst through the boards and swiped.

It passed mere inches in front of her face, she wasted no time, pushed off from the wall and sprinted down the next passage.

' _Fuck, fuck, fuck, what was that...oh no, it's chasing me.'_ She thought in a blind panic, hearing the screech and skittering noise behind her.

She began to cross a bridge which was broken, she quickly leapt the gap but missed the second gap. Although she was able to reach the other side, she lost her flare. Silently cursing herself she hurried onwards, glancing over her shoulder to see, to her shock, the monstrosity chasing her.

It was roughly human sized and human shaped, but it was most certainly not human, it was pale, it's skin almost slick and shiny, it seemed completely hairless and naked, saved for tattered clothing that resembled panties.

It's eyes were white, it's teeth razor sharp and it's claws the same. It moved on all fours and leapt around, climbing the walls and ceiling as it chased after Emily.

' _Oh fuck, oh God, no, please!'_

With those desperate thoughts, Emily soon faced a dilemma when she reached a fork in the road and had to decide which way to turn. She soon had the choice made for her though when the monster leapt in front of her, blocking the right path.

She turned and ran as fast as she could down the left path. To her great relief she saw an elevator ahead. She prayed this one would save her and got on, pulling the lever and then pressing herself against the wall as it began to rise.

Using this reprieve, she fought to catch her breath and calm down.

"Come on!" She told herself sternly. "Breathe out...breathe in...Oh God, Oh god...Snap out of it, Em."

It was then elevator ground to a halt, not reaching the surface, but certainly not that far from it. But the way it stopped terrified Emily, that wasn't a normal stop. She heard the skittering again, far too close, the thing was climbing the outside of the elevator.

She went rigid and stood, so stiff she couldn't even tremble. Her heart pounded heavily and she could hardly hear over the blood pounding in her ears. But she knew roughly where it was, she could feel it's rancid breath through a gap in the wood, on the back of her neck. Finally it faded and she heard the skittering fade away.

"Ok." She sighed.

She began to run down the passageway ahead. It was then she realized it was a trap, the thing had been lying in wait for her, and not it pursued her. Crying out she ran as fast as she could, but it was gaining on her.

Seeing a chain in front of her, connected to a trapdoor she pulled it as she passed. Rocks fell from above, temporarily halting the beast. But it continued it's pursuit.

Tipping a barrel over, trying to slow it some more, Emily ran frantically. _'No, no, no please, don't let it, God I don't wanna die!'_

She pushed over a third barrel, only for this one to leak oil. She leapt back with a disgusted yelp. But then an idea struck her, she pulled another flare from her bag and lit it, throwing it onto the oil leak, creating a small fire.

She then resumed her flight. Her path however terminated in a drop. Taking a chance she jumped down, finding that the drop wasn't that steep, still she winced as a jolt of pain shot up her injured leg.

She wasted no time recovering though, ahead of her was a conveyor belt; possibly her only chance out of here as she could see it led to a drop, but if she could jump the gap, she'd reach an upper ledge.

Her only hope.

So she yanked the leaver and climbed onto the belt which began moving, slowly. She couldn't wait, that thing would catch her up any second.

"Oh come on..." She muttered as she began to crawl up the belt, hoping to expedite her progress. She saw another belt but opted to stay on the one she was currently on.

' _Oh no, you've got to be kidding.'_ She thought in dismay.

She now realized her error as the drop from this conveyor went straight into a now active ore grinder. Biting her lip she tried to leap the gap, she missed the ledge and had to grab it with her hands. She cried out as one of her hands slipped but she recovered and quickly climbed up.

She ran onwards, thinking to herself. _'Nearly there, nearly there...I've gotta be.'_

She paused to look back as she entered a wooden building that, to her relief, had moonlight filtering through the gaps in the roof, she was at the surface at last, now she had to get outside.

Her thoughts were cut short as the beast appeared again, she turned and ran through the door in front of her, she closed and bolted it shut before turning and pressing her back against it.

"Ah, oh please..." She gasped, trying to catch her breath and recover from her ordeal. "Oh, please, oh please, please, please!"

She felt like breaking into tears, but she had to keep her wits about her.

Just then she screamed in agony as pain blinded her, white hot pain seared through her right shoulder as she felt something like a thousand tiny needles piercing her skin there.

She struggled and the pain lessened fractionally as the sensation vanished and she pulled away. The thing had broke it's ugly head through the door and attacked she realized.

The full horror dawned on her. _'It bit me, it fucking bit me!'_

She turned and ran, leaping across the gaps in the floor until she reached a powerline, she spotted a bar hanging from the line and, taking the risk used it as a zip-line, narrowly avoiding the beast pursuing her.

She screamed as she escaped, until the zip-line broke and she landed in a heap in the snow below. She struggled to her feet and tried to move her right arm around, it could still be used, although the pain was still there.

Just then she heard the shriek again, terror seized her, that thing wasn't done.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, let me know your thoughts and any theories, thanks, read and review please.


	21. Chapter 8 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 8 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah.  
PokemonFreak90: Well, sorry but I told you, it's all based on how I played up to where I finished off; I never kill someone off just because others don't like them, that's just stupid. If anyone dies, it'll depends on how I do in chapter 10, as I said before, I've finished up to the end of chapter 9 and so far, everyone is still alive.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or it's characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Part 2: Truth Revealed**

 _Washington Ski Lodge_

 _Time: 04:23 (3 hours Until Dawn)_

Sheer terror pumping adrenaline through her veins, Emily ran through the snow in a blind panic, heading for the lodge which she could see, getting closer with every step, she was sure that monster was still right behind her. She screamed, louder than she'd ever screamed in her life.

Seated in the shed, watching over Josh, Mike heard the scream and leapt to his feet.

"Oh crap, what now…?" He muttered.

He immediately hurried out of the shed, running towards the lodge too.

Emily meanwhile, having reached the front door began frantically knocking, screaming.

"Let me in! Let me IN!"

From inside, Chris, Ashley and Sam all leapt to their feet, hearing the noise.

"Is that-" Ashley began.

Sam immediately cried out."It's Em!"

Chris nodded. "Let her in, Quick!"

They rushed to the front door and opened it, Emily practically fell inside, still screaming.

"Shut the door, oh my God, shut the door!"

Ashley and Sam dragged her further inside, while helping her to her feet. Meanwhile Chris closed the door.

The four made their way back to the great room, guiding Emily to the sofa so she could sit down.

"Em are you alright?" Chris asked worriedly.

Emily fought desperately for breath. "I didn't think I'd make it..."

Chris shook his head. "You were screaming bloody murder."

"Yeah..." Sam replied. "Are you okay?"

"You look totally wiped..."

Emily just groaned at Ashley's comment and tried to speak, now she was no longer running, the pain in her leg and from her other injuries was all catching up with her.

"There was something..."

But Ashley cut across her, asking. "Where's Matt."

"Come, sit down, sit down." Sam said softly, helping her sit.

Emily nodded, finally able to relax now she was seated and amongst familiar faces.

Something's out there." She said at last.

Ashley was still on her question about Matt however. "Did you guys split up?"

"A monster..." Emily blurted. "It's a monster!"

"Wait."

With that single word Chris managed to stop everyone talking over each other, he felt now they had a better chance getting answers.

Concern for Emily's well-being was his first priority.

"Are you okay?" He asked, gesturing to her injuries.

She shook her head. "I'm fine, I don't feel anything, I just need to calm down."

She paused for a moment before whispering. "It was moving so damn fast..."

"What?"

"I just had to get away." She added.

"Away from what?" Sam asked, perplexed.

Emily shuddered and tried to explain. "Th-there was this thing, whatever it was..."

Misinterpreting her fears, Sam tried to reassure her. "Em, Em, you can relax... Josh was messing with us... but we-"

She shook her head vehemently. "You're not listening to me."

Chris bit his lip and then remembered what Ashley had been saying, it was true, Emily was alone.

"Wait Em..." He burst out. "Where's Matt, is he okay?"

"Matt-oh God..." Emily cried out. "We couldn't use the cable car so we climbed the tower and then it fell and we were down in the mine, like way down, down in this terrifying freaking mine shaft..."

"Hold on, hold on-"

Emily continued however. "And then it was Matt and me down there and...Oh God, I think Matt might be dead."

"Wait, what?" Chris burst out as the others all gasped.

Sam choked out a single word. "How?"

Emily suddenly remembered, with revulsion something important

Instead of answering Sam, she brought it up.

""I…I was walking down there, in the mines, and it was dark and I found this pile and there was Beth's head!"

They all gasped in horror and she repeated the fact she had found it, more firmly seeing the disbelief in their faces.

"Oh my God..." Ashley choked out, shock and dismay overcoming her.

Chris shook his head. "What the fuck?"

"Are you serious!?" Sam asked in dismay.

"YES I'm serious!" Emily snapped before calming down. "I think they fell down there. But the worst part is, I don't think Hannah died, like, from the fall, not right away…"

"What do you mean?" Ashley burst out in horror.

Emily swallowed nervously before replying. "I don't know... I feel like she was down there... like, starving to death... for weeks... when we were all up here looking for her... we had no idea!"

Chris shook his head. "Jesus, that's horrible..."

They felt into silence for a moment, before Emily remembered.

"Listen. In...In the tower there was a radio and I – I got through to someone – but that was right when the tower collapsed!"

She trailed off, she was trying to tell them help was coming, but even she wasn't so sure it was.

It was then Mike burst into the room, his eyes widening when he saw Emily.

"Em, you made it!" He cried out.

She stood up and they hugged, both relieved. "Oh god, Mike..."

Chris sighed. "Yeah, yeah, barely!"

Mike looked around, worried again. "What about Matt?"

"We're trying to figure that out." Ashley explained.

"And there was this 'monster' that was chasing her..." Chris began.

Mike smiled softly, noting Emily's condition. "She's all messed up guys, Emily? Hey, Em?"

Before she could respond, to insist on what she saw, a loud bang was heard, the sound of someone knocking on the door, heavily.

"Whoa?"

"Who the fuck can that be?" Mike muttered.

"Josh?" Ashley suggested.

Chris looked over at Mike uneasily. "Jess?"

He shook his head. "It's not Jess."

"Sorry man..." Chris replied, but then queried. "But who is it?"

"I don't know...We should check it out." Mike answered.

So with Chris agreeing the duo made their way to the door and Mike pointed his gun at the door, cautious.

Chris took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm gonna open the door, you ready?" He bit his lip and repeated. "You ready?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, just do it already, whoever it is has probably gone by now."

Chris still stalled. "Unless you want me to take the gun."

"No, no, no. I think that's less good. You do the door, I got the gun." Mike replied.

Chris nodded and approached the door, he had barely turned the handle when it was suddenly kicked open, Chris and Mike both cried out and tried to urge the sudden visitor to stop.

It was an elderly man, grizzled with many scars, gray eyes and hair and carrying a flame-thrower.

"Freeze...Ahh!" Mike cried out as the Stranger effortlessly disarmed him. "What the, alright. Alright, just it easy, grandpa..."

"Okay." The Stranger spat in a thick accent. "Everybody just calm down. Now just move over there, go on, move! Let me say what I came to say."

By this point the boys had backed up and now they were all back in the great room, with the girls all staring in shock at the sudden new arrival, especially Emily. She recognized him, the man she had met down the mines.

Glaring at all of them, the man shook his head.

"I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned." He told them darkly, dropping his bag near the fireplace. "I don't know why you did after what happened last year."

They all shared a look and Ashley nervously asked. "You mean Hannah and Beth?"

"Yeah, how could you know that without being involved…?" Chris queried.

Sam however jumped in then, glaring. "Or responsible!?"

"You hold on to your horses." The Stranger spat. "I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain-"

Mike scoffed at that. "Your mountain? I'm sure the Washingtons would be very surprised to hear that."

The Stranger laughed at Mike's comment.

"Well, this mountain don't belong to me, it's true." He admitted, but then added in a growl. "But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo."

The was a stunned silence after that, they all shared a look, all voicing their confusion, pretty much asking what a Wendigo was, in the end, they had no choice, they decided to hear the old man out.

The Stranger glared at them all, giving them enough time to notice the flame-thrower wasn't his only weapon, he was carrying a machete and a shotgun too.

"Now I'm only going to tell you this once. It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reasons I want to..." He explained, before sighing and adding. "Get it off my chest..."

Mike jumped on that however. "See? I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!"

Sam quickly cut in. "Shh. Shut up Mike!"

The Stranger had a faraway look in his eye, as he began to tell his story.

"There is a curse. That dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed."

There was a moment of horrible clarity for Mike, as he realized now, at last, Josh was telling the truth, the strength of what had dragged Jess off, what he had seen, it was a Wendigo all along, Emily was now sure that's exactly what chased her in the mines too.

Looking at them all, the Stranger warned them. "You're going to need to find somewhere safe."

"The basement might be okay." Sam suggested.

The Stranger instructed them to go down and wait there, Emily reasoned they would have to wait until dawn, that was when rescue was coming after all.

It was while they were discussing this that Mike realized to his horror what he had just done.

"Guys..." He gasped. "I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming."

The Stranger turned to him at once. "Where did you leave him?"

Mike shuffled his feet and admitted. "In the shed."

The Stranger gave a short snort. "Your friend will already be dead."

"No, no he can't be." Chris burst out. "W were just with him!"

"A lot can happen quickly on this mountain."

Chris wouldn't accept that however. "No, I'm gonna go get him."

The others protested, Ashley most vehemently.

"I'm supposed to be his best friend and I let him down." Chris replied.

Ashley shook her head. "No he let you down Chris, he let all of us down."

Chris didn't care however, he still intended to go and, despite his initial unwillingness, he agreed to accompany the Stranger with everybody else being sent to the basement.

They began to make their way to the back door, while everybody else heading down to the basement, except Ashley who followed them. After giving Chris his shotgun and a few warnings the Stranger stepped out into the snow. Chris was about to follow when he heard Ashley's voice.

"Hey..." He turned and she smiled softly. "Come back safe."

With that she suddenly kissed him and, before he could say anything she nodded and he followed the stranger while Ashley closed the door and watched them go.

* * *

On the walk to the shed, the Stranger, at Chris' insistence, began to fill him in on Wendigo's and their weaknesses, he was shocked to realize the shotgun wouldn't kill them, only slow them down, apparently fire was their only weakness, they also had some patterns that they adhered to, like only hunting at night.

Much of what Chris heard made him even more uneasy and not too happy about his chances.

"Any uh, pro Wendigo tips?" He asked. "Like if I rub garlic all over me they won't be able to smell me or something."

"They'll still smell you." The Stranger replied disdainfully.

"Anything like that?"

The stranger grunted but conceded that apparently, their vision was based on movement and, although he didn't recommend testing it out, standing perfectly still might make a person invisible to them.

It was then they arrived at the shed, only to find the stool Josh had been tied to empty and broken.

Chris rushed to it and realized they were too late. Chris was desperate to find Josh but the Stranger insisted they leave, revealing to Chris that the Wendigo was fond of rendering its victim immobile and then stripping the skin from the body piece by piece and keeping them alive and aware while it feasted on their organs.

Chris was freaked out enough to finally agree to give up and they began to leave.

They had barely gone ten paces from the shed when the Stranger yelled.

"Wait, don't move."

Chris froze, a second too late, as his foot came down on a twig that snapped.

The Stranger reacted at once. "RUN, GO, NOW, NOW!"

Chris darted forwards, just as a monstrous creature leapt in front of him.

He leapt back in shock, crying out. "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK!?"

The Stranger blasted the Wendigo with his flame-thrower yelling out. "BACK, BACK!"

After warning Chris to get out of there, get back to the lodge, the Stranger stepped back, raising his flame-thrower again when suddenly he let out a choked gurgle. Chris watched in horror as his body hit the ground, his head hitting it separately a second or so later.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Chris gasped, shock almost setting in.

It was then however he was forced to act, for the Wendigo then turned and lunged, right at him.

He did the only thing he could, he raised the shotgun and fired, point-blank, right in its deformed face.

It felt back with a shriek and Chris immediately took off running, desperate to reach the lodge, before it was too late. He hadn't gone far when the Wendigo returned, or maybe it was another one, he wasn't sure but it leapt out in front of him.

He fired and hit it, as it fell back he ran until he reached a ledge and leapt off. He landed and cried out as pain flared up in his ankle. Looking up he saw the Wendigo coming back for more, he shot again and ran as fast as he could, limping on his injured leg.

' _Sprained ankle, it's gotta be a sprained ankle.'_ His thoughts raced but then he saw ahead. _'Oh shit!'_

The Wendigo was back for more again. Chris fired and struck it again, Chris was now within reach of the lodge, he run up to it, yelling.

"Oh thank God, Please, let me in, quick!"

Ashley opened the door at that moment, Chris burst in and slammed the door shut behind him, locking it, for all the good he felt it would do.

Ashley turned to him, eyes wide, noting his state.

"Chris, oh my god, what happened?"

He shook his head. "We gotta go, that thing was like, right behind me-"

They heard it shriek as it leapt at the door and slammed into it. Ashley let out a short scream and Chris urged her to go.

They hurried as quick as they could down to the basement, Mike was half-way up the basement stairs, apparently on his way up to get Ashley. He quickly turned and headed back down with them.

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the forest, a Wendigo made it's way through the snow, dragging the unconscious body of Josh Washington behind it.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Okay, bit of an explanation, I tried to type out all the Stranger's dialogue when I first typed this chapter, but it was making things far too long and also gave me a killer headache. So for the sake of my health and sanity, I had to make do with this truncated version, I did my best to try and cover the most salient points I picked up when he explains about the Wendigo, more detailed explanations can be found in the game's wiki site I'm sure, the Wendigo page being the best bet of course.

Anyway, now the true threat to our beleaguered teens has been revealed at last.


	22. Chapter 8 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 8 part 3 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Part 3: The Hardest Decision**

 _Washington Lodge Interior_

 _Time: 04:47 (3 hours Until Dawn)_

Still in shock from the recent terrors, Chris, Ashley and Mike managed to enter the basement room, making sure to close and bar the door behind them.

"Oh my god!" Emily gasped seeing them. "Thank God!"

Sam also turned, relieved. "What took you so long?"

Still reeling from the Stranger's death, Chris shook his head.

His words were spoken in a daze. "It's not so good up there right now-"

"Understatement of the night." Mike muttered with a sigh.

Sam looked around worriedly. "Chris, where's the flame-thrower guy?"

"Ah yeah, he uh..." Chris managed to get out.

He didn't need to finish as they all realized the truth, the man was dead. They were all shocked and instantly scared. It was clear the man was an expert on these Wendigos and they no doubt hoped that, with him on their side, they'd have a chance of survival, now he was dead, which completely shattered their hopes.

"What happened?" Sam gasped.

Chris shuddered, hating remembering. "The thing, it... it tore him apart! Right in front of me!"

"Oh God..."

There was a stony silence as they all took this in, realizing what they felt was their best chance had been torn away.

Finally Mike seemed to come to a decision as he paced around the room, looking around wildly.

"Alright." He said, sounding frantic. "These all the doors?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?"

He sighed and admitted. "Another way out."

"Mike..." Sam shook her head. "I really don't think that's a good idea. We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we're safe down here-"

Mike turned to her incredulous. "Oh? Yeah? All wrapped like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?"

Sam tried to reassure him. "People will come for us, in the morning."

"You don't sound so sure."

She insisted. "That's what'll happen, right Em?"

"Yeah, I mean…." Emily replied, looking to the others. "Right?"

Mike shook his head, stepped away. "Well, you can wait, I'm leaving."

"Mike, there's no key for the cable car-" Emily warned him.

Mike bit his lip and thought for a moment.

Finally it dawned on him and he turned back to the others.

"Josh, he's gotta have it."

"Josh?" Sam queried.

Mike nodded. "One of his dirty little tricks."

Sam groaned. "Great. Great!"

"If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then..." Mike sighed and shrugged. "We're shit outta luck."

"I don't know Mike, it's possible..." Emily began but trailed off. When questions she explained. "It may have taken him down to the mine. "I saw some horrible stuff down there... I think it's where that thing lives and...huh."

She trailed off again, noticing a collection of documents which she began looking closely at.

"Em, what?" Sam asked.

"Fuck it." Mike said at last. "I'm gonna get that key. Right from thing's goddamned bedroom, and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here."

Before he could leave however he heard Sam and Emily talking and joined them at a work bench.

"Em, what is all that?"

Emily replied. "It's that old guy's bag..."

Mike then saw what they were looking at. "Is that a map?"

"This guy was prepared for anything." Sam noted.

"Not quite."

Emily shook her head. "What is this place?"

Some of the things on the map shocked them all, Ashley had joined them by now but didn't speak. Chris remained where he was, sitting against another bench, staring blankly at the floor.

Sam then spotted something, it looked like a tunnel, but it was marked as dangerous.

"Wait, wait, wait, what is that?" She asked, disturbed.

Mike shook his head, he had passed the collapsed section on his back from the sanatorium. "I was down there, it was horrible."

"You were?"

He began to relate the history of what he saw, the survivors of the mine collapse, what the reporter found out, the cover up and the fact the owners knew the mines were a death trap, then also, the discovery of the restraining chair. The others gazed at him in utter shock.

"I'm just saying." He told them. "It's weird how much crazy shit's gone on up here."

Emily shook her head and pointed to the map. "What's weird is there's a tunnel leading from the lodge to the Sanatorium, see."

"That's how I got back here." Mike explained.

The others nodded and Emily remembered her own trip through the mines. "I saw this when I was down there, that's where it lives."

It was at that point Ashley turned her head and her eyes widened. For she could see Emily's right shoulder, up close, she could see the tear through her jacket and top, the jagged looking marks on her exposed shoulder, the dried blood around the holes in her exposed skin.

"Em, what is that?" She asked, her voice trembling.

"Huh?"

"What _is_ that?" Ashley repeated, pointing at Emily's bite.

Realizing Emily stepped back. "Ash..."

Ashley shook her head, freaking out. "Em... oh my God oh my God oh my God! Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

Emily shook her head.

She felt Ashley was overreacted and tried to calm her.

"It's nothing, it bit me and..."

"It bit you?" Ashley choked out. "What bit you?"

"That ah...the Wendigo." She admitted.

Mike froze. "The what? Shit."

"It's nothing, really, it's not a big deal." Emily insisted.

Sam was quick to ask if she was alright.

Emily just nodded. "It doesn't hurt anymore, really, it's not that bad."

Mike shook his head. "Em...if that thing bit you..."

She reacted at once. "I know what you're thinking and I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"Yes!" She insisted.

Sam was more worried about the wound being dirty. "Emily, at least let us check it out."

She moved closer to check. But Mike grabbed Sam's arm.

"Emily, if the Wendigo bit you... You could turn into one of those things."

Sam started. "Oh that's ridiculous."

But Mike didn't look too convinced.

Ashley in particular seemed terrified.

"He said it was from _eating_ each other, remember, he said that!" She insisted, referring to the Stranger.

"Wait." Sam insisted, not wanting anyone to jump to a conclusion. "Is that how it worked?"

Ashley nodded vigorously. "Yes! It happens if it bit you, you're gonna turn into one and then you're gonna turn on us oh my God oh my God _oh my God_!"

Ashley was pretty close to a full on panic attack now. Mike sighed.

He hated doing this, but saw no other way. "You can't be down here with us."

"What?!" Emily cried aghast.

"Mike!" Sam cried out.

"You gotta go."

Emily shook her head. "Are you kidding me!?"

Mike insisted. "You're putting us _all_ in danger."

"Like hell I am!"

"Emily..." Mike growled. "You can't stay here!"

Emily couldn't believe this, just one bite and everyone was ganging up on her.

Well, almost everyone, for at that moment Sam stepped up.

"Mike, just cool you head okay?" She said, glaring at him. "We don't know if it works like that, maybe it's just a bite."

Chris then spoke up at last, his voice distant. "I've seen what these fuckers can do, I don't want to see it again."

Emily couldn't believe it, all this, Sam was the only one to stick up for her.

"What is this?" She demanded. "Guys? What are you doing?"

Mike sighed and stepped aside, gesturing. "Door's right here, I am letting you do this voluntarily."

Emily glared at his transparent efforts. "Oh no, you're just making yourself feel better about sending me to my death since you know there's a Wendigo out there rip me to pieces like it did with-"

Ashley cried out. "Oh my God, will you just _go_! Go, get _out of here_!"

Mike shook his head, this wasn't working, he couldn't take the risk. Suddenly, shocking everyone, he grabbed his gun and took aim, at Emily.

"Whoa!" Sam cried out, holding up her hands in Mike's direction.

Emily gasped in horror and Sam shook her head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mike, calm down!" She hissed.

But Mike still kept aim on Emily.

Emily had clambered up onto the bench and was now huddled against the wall, fear and disbelief nearly driving her to tears.

"You're going to shoot me? Mike..." She whispered. " _Me_?"

He just yelled. "This is the safe room Em! It's not safe as long as you're in it...Not for us!"

"No...Don't, don't do this!" She begged, breaking down.

She remained curled in a ball, crying. Sam bit her lip, unsure if she could move in time, Ashley and Chris remained immobile too.

"I'm really sorry." Mike choked.

However even as he took aim and prepared to pull the trigger, his mind kept reminding him this was Emily, his former girlfriend and everything they had been through together.

He recalled yelling at Josh, blaming him for killing Jess, only to discover it was the Wendigo. Now he was about to commit murder, on someone he knew and cared about.

"Fuck..." He let out an explosive breath, lowering the gun. "I can't do this."

He turned away and Emily collapsed in a heap, still lying on the bench.

"Oh my God." She whimpered.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "You did the right thing."

"I hope you did." Ashley said turning away.

"Maybe, for now...Shit, fuck, fuck..." Mike stammered, trying to think. "Keep an eye on her, if you see anything weird, you guys know what to do."

With that he put the gun down and made up his mind.

"No one leave okay. It's not safe out there." He turned and prepared to go and get Josh, to return to the Sanatorium where he hoped to find a way down to the part of the mines he needed to get to. "I'll be back soon."

With that he left the basement.

 _Washington Ski Lodge Basement_

 _Time: 04:51 (3 hours Until Dawn)_

After Mike left, Emily finally relaxed, realizing that she had narrowly avoided death, she couldn't believe what had just happened. She lay flat out on the bench, Sam sat down near her, also looking relieved.

Ashley bit her lip and slowly began to make her way over to the desk where all the Stranger's belongings were laid out.

"I thought that...that he was going to help us." Emily said sadly.

Sam turned to her. "Who, the flame-thrower dude?"

"Now we don't have a chance."

Sam however shook her head. "No guys, it just means we've got to be tough, we gotta do this on our own."

"I don't know if I can." Emily muttered in response.

Chris did not reply at all. Ashley couldn't help but feel guilty over what happened and, spotting a journal of sorts she began to read it.

In it she found the Stranger had documented everything he knew about the Wendigos, including some stuff he hadn't actually told them, such as how they could mimic humans, especially their voices to lure prey to them.

In truth, all of it was scary.

But then Ashley found a page which caught her eye.

"Oh...Oh no, no, no, no, no..." She gasped as she read the passage again.

"What?" Sam insisted, hurrying over. "What is it, what does it say?"

Ashley turned to her, biting her lip, she wasn't sure what to do, if she admitted the truth, she didn't want to imagine how Emily would react, but if she hid the truth.

In the end her guilt won out. "It says that... well... the bites... if it bites you... it's not infectious. It doesn't do anything."

Sam gasped and grabbed the book. "Let me see that!"

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Emily snarled, getting up.

Ashley turned and stood, shifting her feet; seeing the anger smoldering in Emily's eyes.

"Em, it says you'll be okay..."

Emily looked furious, Sam tried to calm her, explaining that she would be fine.

On contrary, Emily exploded. "Fine!? Mike almost shot me, is that fine?!"

Sam shook her head. "He didn't shoot you-"

"And this bitch almost let him!" Emily screamed, pointing at Ashley accusingly.

"Hey!" Sam cut across her, defensively. "That's not fair, she was scared!"

"I'm the one who's scared!"

Ashley shook her head, pleadingly.

Emily was beyond furious and Ashley felt horribly guilty, worse than ever. She glanced over at Chris but he was still too wrapped up in shock at witnessing the Stranger's death.

Finally she sobbed out. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry Emily... I didn't know what was going to happen... None of us knew!"

"There's- There's no excuse! There's no excuse for this!" Emily snapped turning away.

Ashley stepped forwards, pleading "Please Emily, please just try to understand-"

Emily rounded on Ashley. "Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!"

With that she slapped Ashley with such force the girl fell to the ground, breaking into tears.

"I'm sorry…" She sobbed. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry..."

Sam meanwhile had been reading the journal and realized something.

"Oh shit, shit..." She gasped. "We gotta go find Mike."

She sounded so panicked none of the others questioned her, they simply grabbed what they needed and followed her out of the basement.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review with your thoughts and theories please as things are getting more and more interesting, we now reach the end of chapter 8 :)


	23. Chapter 9 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 9 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Certainly was, well, things are about to take a drastic turn indeed.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Part 1: Braving the Sanatorium**

 _Therapy Session_

Dr. Hill's office had certainly taken a turn for the strange, it now seemed to be melding with a snow forest, with trees inside the office itself, despite the roof being intact. Dr. Hill sat at his desk, shaking his head as he observed Josh sitting opposite him, looking badly beat up, a wound to his forehead and other cuts.

"Oh Joshua..." Dr. Hill stated sadly. "You should have listened to me. Because of your choices, people have _died_."

Josh shook his head.

Dr. Hill glared and began to talk, his tone fluctuating erratically. "I don't know which is worse, actively triggering events that lead to someone's death, or passive allowing a tragedy to occur. Because you couldn't lift a damned finger to _help_ someone else."

He paused for a moment, Josh still did not respond.

With a heavy sigh Dr. Hill continued. "Remember last yeah? Huh? How you left your poor sisters to _die_? You did _nothing_ to help them! Paralyzed by your own self centered fear while a real threat was closing in."

Josh began breathing heavily, bowing his head, covered in guilt and shame.

"No, it's all about you Josh, it's always about you!" Dr. Hill replied sadly, trying to hand Josh a tissue.

Josh looked up as the strong forest winds blew it away.

Dr. Hill leaned back in his seat and began lecturing again.

"Your _game_ has gone terribly wrong, and your friends, like your sisters, have _deserted_ you. You are all _alone_. Can you feel how cold your loneliness has become? Why did you hurt them?"

Josh gave no response.

Dr. Hill shook his head. "Joshua, _why_ did you hurt them!?"

"They hurt me." He burst out at last, shifting nervously.

Dr. Hill sighed. "They didn't hurt you Joshua. Not intentionally. They made a stupid mistake and a terrible tragedy befell your sisters. They did not intend for that to happen, it just **DID.** And they were sorry at least until you subjected them to your night of horrific torture."

Josh bowed his head again, almost sobbing as he choked out. "I'm so sorry..."

"Let's hope it's not too late for atonement." Dr. Hill replied sadly. "And if your friends, if they still are your friends, can save you from _something_ even worse than _death_ itself."

Josh lowered his head, breathing heavily as the words struck fear right in his heart.

* * *

 _Mountain Sanatorium_

 _Time: 05:03 (Two hours Until Dawn)_

Mike approached the doors to the Sanatorium towards the end of the tunnel, he never imagined he'd end up back here again. He reached the door and opened it.

"Oof, ok, ok, ok, what's the-" He muttered, having forgotten how stiff it was.

Finally in he closed and locked the door behind him. He didn't want the others to be put at risk; he began retracing his steps, past the area that was still scorched from the explosion, some debris still smouldered.

He made his way up the large stairs and began retracing his steps back to the chapel. When he finally reached the chapel he stopped and looked around in surprise, the place was in even worse shape than before.

"Ho-lee...shit." He whispered.

He looked around, noticing something that troubled him right away.

"Huh...What happened to the wolves?"

They were gone. He continued his search, most gated doors and regular doors were locked. On the far wall was a hole that led outside, to reveal a makeshift graveyard, all graves bore the same date.

Shaking his head at yet another part of the 1952 mystery, Mike continued his search of the chapel, until he found a way to get behind one of the gated doors, from above.

Inside he found it was a cramped storeroom, used by the Stranger, on a nearby table were things he knew right away would be useful. He had a flashlight true, but he pocketed it. The torch he found would be more useful as both a light and a weapon against the Wendigos.

He lit the torch and picked up a pack of shells for a shotgun. By pure coincidence, there was also a sawed-off shotgun on the bench too.

"Now I just need a pitchfork and a mob." He joked to himself; but shrugged. "Good enough.

Gathering everything he managed to exit the storeroom and made his way to the other locked door, near the hole in the wall. Reaching the door he readied himself and shot the lock off before kicking the door open. He entered into the new corridor and heard a noise. He tensed but then relaxed and smiled.

"Hey big guy!" He said cheerfully as a familiar wolf stepped into view.

It was the wolf he met earlier and befriended.

"happy to see me again huh?" He said as the wolf approached him, non-aggressively. "Heyyy, I was hopin' I'd run into you again."

He gently scratched the wolf behind the ears.

He grinned as he did so, relieved to have some company.

"Alright, good boy...Alright pal, you're comin' with me." He said standing up. "Alright, here's the plan. I happened to see a map of this place, so we're not flying blind. There should be a way into the psychiatric wing that'll take us right outside the mine. Think we can handle that?"

The wolf looked up at him and let out a small contented noise.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, atta boy."

So Mike found himself following the wolf as it actually began guiding him through the fenced outdoor path to another building of the sanatorium, clearly signposted as the Psychiatric Ward and Restraining Area, the very place he was looking for.

As they entered however a loud noise startled Mike, at the same time Wolfie barked, sounding angry.

"Jesus Chri-" He composed himself quickly. "Okiedokie boy, calm down."

Wolfie just ran on ahead, getting past the door blocking their path, squeezing through a gap Mike couldn't.

He sighed. "Wish I could move like you, Wolfie, think I'm stuck on this side."

Stuck he tried a nearby lever which partially opened the door. He was able to slide through, although he noticed that the door behind him was now closed. Continuing to make his way through the circular room, trying to find a way down to the center he reached a staircase and made his way down.

Searching the area he found himself in turned up only one thing of interest, disturbing interest, a death certificate. Shaking his head he left that office and continued to follow the path. This part of the Sanatorium at least did not look as bad as the other, but still in pretty bad shape.

"AH!" Mike cried when he rounded the corner. "Oh, son of a bitch."

Wolfie barked quietly, shuffling back as they both beheld the strung up, partially devoured carcass of Wolfie's fellow four legged canine.

"Huh... Jesus Christ, what the fuck have I gotten myself into...?" Mike muttered. "Fuck man, this is truly disgusting."

Wolfie walked away, moving into the next area. Mike however noticed something to his left, an open cell door. He examined it, noting a few odd things.

"Huh...These doors were built like tanks, how crazy were these inmates?" He wondered aloud, before seeing the markings on the walls of that cell, what looked disturbing like claw marks. "What went on here, this is nuts."

With a greatly uneasy feeling, Mike returned to following Wolfie as they made their way through the Sanatorium. Their long search through various corridors and rooms in varying stages of dilapidation turned up more clues, all of them disturbing.

The first discovery was an old film reel which showed a miner transforming into a Wendigo, the transformation had been triggered deliberately, almost like an experiment, with the man restrained in the chair Mike had seen in the morgue.

He also found a case study dossier which detailed the discoveries in further detail, all of it made it clear that the miners that survived the collapse did so by eating those that did not and became Wendigos, subsequently breaking free and causing the mass destruction of the sanatorium.

"Jesus hot sauce Christmas cake, this is fucking unbelievable." Mike muttered.

He continued to follow Wolfie's lead, stumbling across another clue. This one in the form of a corpse with a suicide note. The final piece of the puzzle, the dead guy was the owner of the sanatorium and the mine, it confirmed Mike's suspicions about what had happened.

Not wanting to see anymore of this, Mike hurried made his way into the next room, relieved to find himself on the ground floor, at the center of the structure at last.

Throughout his journey he had felt the ominous presence of being watched and now he heard a loud screech, he froze, it had to be a Wendigo.

Entering the wide room properly Mike reacted as a can fell off a small container and shot it. He quickly loaded the shotgun again, shaking his head as it turned out to just be a rat. But then the Wendigo jumped down from the ceiling in front of him.

"Ha!" He cried, firing at it, striking it in the face. "How does that feel you fuck!?"

He quickly ran onwards, following Wolfie who led the way, the Wendigo recovered and began a close pursuit.

"Jesus, fuck, fuck!" Mike cried.

He reached a fork in the path and went left.

"Shit, shit, shit." He muttered as he closed the door behind him quickly.

"Okay...What the?" He gasped, his torch tied. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck...FUCK!"

He quickly barricade the door with a nearby cabinet and hurried onwards. His flight was interrupted however by another Wendigo attack, but this one he fended off with his machete, lodging it in the creature's face.

He ran onwards, soon closing another door and stopping, he was able to catch his breath and nod to Wolfie.

Relieved the wolf was still with him he managed a small smile.

"Good dog...shh, sh..." He said reassuringly. "It's okay, it's fine."

Wolfie suddenly darted away, seeking cover, taking his cue, Mike did the same, just as a Wendigo jumped down and landed on a nearby table. It appeared they were in a kitchen of sorts. Remembering what he had heard, Mike stopped moving and did his utmost to stay still.

The Wendigo looked around warily, clearly searching for him. Suddenly he heard the sound of a bottle rolling right above him. He quickly caught it as it fell, thankfully not giving himself away.

Taking a chance while it was distracted, Mike ran into the next room, Wolfie by his side.

"Dammit...alright." He growled under his breath. "Come one you son of a bitch, where are you?"

He was actually getting lower now, going underground; he could hear Wendigo screeches all around and it was freaking him out.

He was what was clearly an isolation ward, with several cells, as he neared one of the cells a Wendigo attempted to grab him but missed. Crying out Mike leapt back and shot the Wendigo right in the face. He took off running, Wolfie still by his side.

"When is this shit gonna stop!?" He asked the wolf. "Jesus Chr- It's like a fucking bad dream."

He ducked as another Wendigo lashed out from its cell to attack him.

"Whoa, fuck this!"

He continued to run, dodging another attack, he grit his teeth and slowed down. Keeping his gun at the ready, fully loading it, he looked around warily.

"One at a time boys." He quipped; trying to cover his nervousness, his pounding heart. "There's enough of me for all a'ya."

He fired at another Wendigo after dodging its attack and ran onwards, ducking under another arm and then shooting another just as he realized this one was chained up and couldn't reach him.

"Oh Jesus... Oh Jesus... Fuck... fuck, fuck."

He hurried away, dodging another attack and then shooting another before rounding a corner, ahead he saw the end of the restraining area hallway, and looking over his shoulder, a free Wendigo in pursuit.

Panicking he tried to open the door it only partially opened and the Wendigo was jumping across the walls towards him.

"Dammit, not good!"

He quickly shot at it and then tipped over a barrel next to him. Just then two more Wendigos began to leap towards him.

He quickly pushed the barrel and, when it was level with them, he fired, blowing up the barrel and incinerating the Wendigos, albeit it knocked Mike back and he grunted, muttering to himself as he recovered, running away as the Wendigo spirits appeared and flew away.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!"

He recovered and managed to get through the door, closing and locking it again. He stopped and caught his breath, he was back in the main Psychiatric ward; his path wasn't through here it seemed, not with those monsters now on the loose; luckily he knew of an alternate way in.

However on the way, he found himself pursued by another Wendigo.

"Fuck!"

He ran ahead and, seeing the locked door ahead blasted it, managing to break though before barricading it and hurrying onwards, jumping down a hole. Looking up he stopped, Wolfie was standing there, looking down at him.

He was beyond relieved to see the wolf had survived.

"Hey buddy, come on down, it's alright." He said; but Wolfie didn't move and he understood. "Okiedokie bud, catch ya on the flipside huh?"

Wolfie leapt over the hole and padded away. Hoping he'd be alright, Mike hurried upstairs to the exit of the Sanatorium, but the door wouldn't open and a tell-tale shriek told him another Wendigo was behind him.

He spun around, cursing and fired at a nearby barrel, the room exploded and Mike leapt from it, right outside. The Sanatorium was now on fire and more and more shrieking could be heard.

Recovering, Mike ran for the mines, unaware that one Wendigo, still on fire, was clawing its way out of the rubble.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	24. Chapter 9 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 9 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, employed a little bit of artistic license in this chapter, doing a little something not in the game, just a cosmetic change really, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
PokemonFreak90: Yeah, it was cool, I really enjoyed it too :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Part 2 Surprise Recovery and Fateful Choices**

 _Underground Mines_

 _Time: Unknown Time_

In the cold dankness of the mines, a lone figure lay on a collapsed elevator shaft, a young blonde woman, clad in white floral patterned, blood and dirt stained panties and a matching bra, she had nasty gashes on her face and chest, more on her arms and legs, so much blood covering her. It was Jessica.

Against all odds, her eyes fluttered open and, realizing her surroundings she sat bolt upright.

"Oh..." She then cried out. "Shit!"

The pain was immense, it filled every inch of her body and she could barely move without it flaring up.

Nevertheless, she told herself, she had to move. She awkwardly stood up, pain ricocheting through her body and the cold gnawing at her exposed skin.

"Shit." She whimpered. "Oh god..."

Looking around briefly she immediately spotted something that could help her and limped over.

"Oh my god..." She whispered to herself.

She grabbed the miner's coat, hanging from a hook and pulling it on, fixing it up so she was now covered, at least down to the middle of her thighs, the coat also exposed some of her chest.

But she felt a little warmer now. She pulled on the miner's boots that lay on the ground too, they were too big, but she had no other choice, wincing in pain she struggled to fix them, now only her legs bore the brunt of the cold.

She gasped as, at that moment, she heard a loud, inhuman screech.

* * *

 _Underground Passages_

 _Time: 05:16 (2 hours Until Dawn)_

Desperately pursuing Mike, Sam led the way, what she had seen in the Stranger's journal had her worried enough that she was willing to abandon the relative safety of the basement for this. Ashley, Chris and Emily all followed her; all of them carrying flashlights to ensure none were caught out in the dark.

"Come on guys! Hurry up!" She insisted. "We gotta find Mike, come on."

Chris was at the back of the group and falling behind however; limping heavily on his ankle, he was now definitely sure it was sprained.

He shook his head. "Hey...ahhh, I'm kinda gimping out here, guy."

They all turned to him worried.

"I think maybe you should go on without me." He said at last.

Ashley immediately hurried up to him. "Oh God, Chris, are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just go on..." He replied. "I- I can't keep up with you macho ladies."

"Oh God Chris, just stop it okay?" Ashley sighed at his joke.

"Listen, just, go on ahead, okay? You gotta warn Mike, I'll be right behind you..." He said as reassuringly as he could. "I'm just gonna take a breather."

Ashley reluctantly agreed and joined the others as Chris sat down, meanwhile they continued onwards; until eventually they reached a door at the end of the tunnel, the door to the Sanatorium according to the map they had seen.

Sam tried to open it but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh shit, Mike must have locked it behind him. CRAP!" She let out a frustrated groan. "There's gotta be another way in..."

They all looked around and that was Ashley saw the manhole on the ground.

"Wait, hey, what about this?" She said, getting Sam's attention. "I mean, should, should we try it?"

Sam shrugged. "Well it's not like we got a whole lot of choices here."

Ashley conceded that point and, using a nearby pipe, was able to open the manhole cover and, together with Sam was able to move it aside. Staring down the dank hole sent shivers down Ashley's spine.

"Okay, ugh...Okay this is the last place I'd wanna be in right now." She muttered.

Sam just nodded. "So, who's going first?"

Ashley let out a short laugh and Emily smirked.

"After you."

Rolling her eyes Sam began to slid her way into the hole and climb down the ladder.

"Not so bad." She commented. "You think this is the tunnel to the Sanatorium?"

"Of course it is." Ashley replied at once. "Where else would it go?"

Emily quickly followed Sam but Ashley paused, looking back in the direction Chris had been left behind.

She turned and called down to the others.

"I wanna make sure Chris can find us." An idea then came to her. "Hey, maybe if I leave some marks along the way, he'll be able to follow us-"

Sam bit her lip, looking unsure.

Ashley however was confident and told them. "You know what, you go on, I'll catch up."

Sam reluctantly agreed and she and Emily hurried onwards. Meanwhile, Ashley marked an arrow on the ground next to the manhole and paused for a moment, thinking.

She wanted to make sure Chris knew she had left the mark, an idea then came to her. She quickly removed her beanie and set it on the ground, next to the arrow. Smiling she climbed down the ladder, heading into the caverns below.

She looked around, using her flashlight to try and see, no other way to find the others except by going through the tunnels it seemed. She walked onwards, keeping her eyes and ears open.

She couldn't deny she was scared, her heart was hammering again, but she kept going. After coming this far, she didn't want to let the others down by remaining in hiding like a coward.

"Help me!"

She jumped upon hearing the voice.

"H-hello?" She called out, realizing it was coming from a side passage, she'd have to climb through a gap and then jump down to reach the tunnel. "Who's there, anybody?"

The voice screamed again and Ashley realized it sounded familiar.

"Jessica? Is that you…?"

The voice continued to scream and Ashley decided to investigate. "This is fucking crazy...Jessica!"

She leapt down from the ledge and continued on the path, searching, calling out. She finally found the source of the noise, it sounded like Jess was screaming and banging on a trapdoor in the floor.

"Oh God..." Ashley muttered. "Oh no, no, no...No."

She stopped before opening the trapdoor however.

While it sounded like Jess, Ashley suddenly remembered, it couldn't be.

Mike had insisted she was dead, not only that, she suddenly remembered something she had read in the Stranger's journal, about how Wendigos could mimic the voices of those close to the people they hunted, in order to lure them into a trap.

A particularly hard thump on the trapdoor that rattled it, making her jump, convinced her it was a Wendigo, Jessica was definitely not that strong.

So, forcing herself to ignore the voice, she moved on, following the tunnel ahead until she was able to climb through another gap and reach the former path again, just in time to spot Sam and Emily just ahead.

"Oh my god, I am so glad to see you." She burst out as she rushed over to them.

They both turned and Sam smiled. "Glad you're safe."

Ashley looked at the wall ahead, it was rough, uneven, then she saw it, the broken remains of a ladder, to high up for them to reach.

"Look, look there!" She cried, pointing it out.

They turned and Sam groaned.

"Wow, great."

Ashley bit her lip. "The ladder's toast, we're never going to make it up there!"

Sam however shook her head, a steely glint in her eye. "No, no, no, I think I can...I think I can do it, it's like...a rock wall."

She smiled and turned to Ashley and Emily. "I'm gonna keep going, you should head back to the lodge, I've gotta get Mike."

"Good luck." Ashley replied.

With that she and Emily turned back and began heading back the way they came.

* * *

 _Underground Passages_

 _Time: 05:26 (2 hours Until Dawn)_

Chris limped closer to the door, looking around, this was an apparent dead end.

"Sam!" He cried out. "ASH! You guys hear me?"

He looked down and stopped when he saw the open man hole. He examined it and then saw the arrow and something familiar.

' _Ashley's beanie, she's not taken it off the whole time we were here...she must have made the arrow...'_ He realized, grinning. _'Clever, Ash, clever.'_

Picking up Ashley's beanie he climbed down the manhole; relieved that, while it still hurt, his ankle wasn't making it too hard to walk now. As he continued onwards he heard something, a voice, screaming for help.

"Huh, hello?" He called out. "Who's there?"

It sounded familiar, but; he shook his head, it couldn't be, Mike had assured him Jessica was dead. So, pressing onwards he soon had to jump down a ledge, despite the jolt of pain, and continue.

' _Fuck man, that hurt...'_

However he soon stopped and smiled when he saw Ashley and Emily hurrying back towards him.

"Chris!" Ashley cried.

"Hey!"

She noticed he looked spooked. "God, what happened?"

He shook his head. "Thought I heard Jess."

"Oh my God..." Ashley shook her head.

They began to then leave, with the girls telling him what Sam had said.

He didn't like the thought of leaving her here, but agreed.

He grinned and pulled something from his pocket.

"Here, I think this belongs to you Ash." He said, handing her the beanie.

She smiled, blushing lightly. "Ah, thanks Chris, you got the message then."

He nodded, smirking as she pulled it back on and they continued to head back.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	25. Chapter 9 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 9 part 3 of my Until Dawn Novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Part 3 – Find Mike**

 _Underground Tunnels_

 _Time: 05:35 (2 hours Until Dawn)_

Looking at the wall before her, Sam carefully chose her starting point and began to climb up the wall; she paused and then, preparing herself she set her feet on some rocks and pushed upwards, leaping to a higher ledge.

She grabbed the wooden board but it broke, she gave a short cry but quickly recovered and stayed holding on.

"Urgh, come on." She muttered.

She forced herself upwards again, bracing her feet and making another leap, grabbing a broken structure before making another to a higher ledge.

"Come on, come on." She muttered; encouraging herself. "You can do it."

She climbed up the rocks until finally she reached the top of the wall. She grinned as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Hah, I beat you." She said breathlessly. "I fuckin' beat you."

Composing herself she began to look around, using the light from her head-torch to guide her, keeping her hands free. She soon reached a gap in the path and opted to take the stairs to the right, she had only just got off the stairs when suddenly there was a loud rumbling and then a smashing noise.

"Ahh!" She cried out, then saw the stairs she had just used were destroyed. "Jesus!"

Shaking her head she continued onwards, desperate to find Mike, already afraid it was too late.

She stopped however when she heard a loud, strange noise.

"What was that?" She mumbled warily.

Her search to the top of the stairs didn't glean anything but a strange symbol on the wall, and a skull. Shaking her head, a little creeped out, she turned to follow a different route, along some raised walkways. Suddenly the cavern started to shake and she had to grab the railing to steady herself.

"Oh fuck!" She cried out. "Fuck!"

Rocks fell, both behind and in front of her, forcing her to jump the gap before hurrying off the walkway.

' _This is getting real fucked up, not good, not good at all…'_ She noted with concern.

Just then she heard that noise again and shook her head. Grabbing a nearby pipe for protection. Reaching another ledge she carefully dropped down. At that moment, the metal door opposite her burst open and Mike came charging in, trying to slam the door behind him.

"Goddammit!" He cried.

"Mike!"

"Stay back there!" He shouted, as suddenly a Wendigo leapt out onto him, pinning him down.

The Wendigo appeared to be burning and now looked set, despite being wreathed in fire, to make Mike it's next meal.

"Holy shit!" Sam yelled before charging forwards. "Hey! FATTY OVER HERE!"

The creature shrieked and lifted its head towards her, for a brief second, Sam could have sworn it actually looked offended by her words, before she struck it with the pipe, then again for good measure.

The flames faded and it finally went still. But that wasn't the end, at that moment a strange form burst out and flew away.

Mike quickly recovered, closing the door panting. Sam gasped for breath too, unfortunately her pipe was now damaged and could no longer be used.

"Whoa...you alright?" Mike gasped.

Fighting for air Sam laughed shortly. "Uhh, define 'alright'."

Mike nodded understandingly. "Alive for a start?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Sam replied. "Alive's good."

Mike shook his head. "The hell are you doing here, anyway?"

Sam bit her lip sheepishly, considering the encounter. "I was gonna warn you, about the Wendigos."

"I think I got it." Mike replied with a short laugh.

Sam agreed and Mike continued. "Let's go, let's find a way down to where this fucker lives."

Sam and Mike both left the area, deciding to search for Josh together.

* * *

 _Therapy Session_

Josh was kneeling on the ground in the mines, where that thing that took him had dropped him. He was clutching his head, whimpering and breathing heavily. Dr. Hill leaned on his desk nearby, no other elements of the doctor's office were present.

The doctor himself stood up from his desk and walked over to the trembling young man. He crouched down, rubbing his hands together.

"I wonder how much these "sessions" are of any help to you now." Dr. Hill stated. "You just won't listen to me and things seem pretty... _fucked up_."

He stood up and turned his back on Josh.

He shook his head and spoke darkly. "So – I'm going to _leave_ you now, Josh. It's time, you learned, there is more to be afraid of, than can be dreamt up by the unhinged imagination of a self-indulgent, _spoiled little brat!_ "

He turned back to him and noted. "You had so many people who cared about you...who were willing to _help_! But at every turn you chose to push them away and now...you're all _alone_."

Josh whimpered softly and continued to breath heavily at that. Dr. Hill began to walk away, just as a shriek filled the cavern.

"Though by the sounds of things, you won't be alone for long. No, you won't be alone for long." He remarked. "Deep breaths, Josh. Deep breaths..."

With that he left, and the desk also faded, leaving Josh alone, facing his worst fear...isolation.

* * *

End of chapter hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

So, now we reach the end of chapter 9, things are picking up even more, so, once again, recap on everyone:

Sam and Mike have reunited and are going to search for Josh, who is still lost down the mines and in a very bad way, turns out the therapy sessions were all in his head.

Emily, Ashley and Chris have all reunited and are returning to the lodge, where it will hopefully be safe for them.

Jess is revealed to be alive although in a badly injured state, what will happen to her is still to be revealed.

Matt hasn't been seen since his fateful encounter in Chapter 6, his attacker now appears to have been a Wendigo.

So, things come to a head as we go into chapter 10, what awaits us, we can only wait and see.


	26. Chapter 10 - Part 1

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 10 part 1 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Part 1 – Breaking Down**

 _Underground Mines_

 _Time: 06:10 (1 hour Until Dawn)_

Josh struggled desperately, trying to rise from the ground, his mind kept tormenting him, he was alone, all alone and deeply afraid. He could hear the skittering and strange screeching that echoed nearby, then he heard something else, also echoing.

It was Hannah's voice, singing. _"_ _Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques. Dormez vous?"_

He whimpered; his sister was haunting him again. "No, no, no, no..."

Then Beth's voice joined Hannah's, starting the song as Hannah continued. _"Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques. Dormez vous?"_

" _Dormez vous? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong."  
_  
"No, no, no...not again!" He moaned.

" _Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong."_ Beth's singing continued as Hannah finished.

" _Ding dang dong."_

Josh was on his feet by now, gripping his skull which felt like it was about to burst. He staggered back and forth, pleading.

"Not again! Get away, get away!" He cried in desperation and terror. "Get away from me!"

Finally Beth finished. _"Ding dang dong."_

His sister's voices then dissolved into laughter as he covered his ears, tears streaming down his face.

Trying hard to compose himself he cried out desperately.

"No, you're dead!"

He soon became overwhelmed however, hearing more voices.

" _Sorry."_ Dr. Hill's tone was almost disparaging.

"You're dead!" Josh screamed in fear at his sister's, still haunting him.

Dr. Hill's voice continued. _"You can't change what happened last year."_

" _Josh."_ Hannah called out.

"Shut up!"

" _We miss you Josh."_ Hannah's voice continued undeterred.

Josh shook his head vehemently. "No! You're dead!"

Hannah's voice suddenly became menacing. _"Come with us."_

Josh shuddered and tried to get a sense of his surroundings, to find a way out of this nightmare.

Suddenly Mike's voice echoed in his head too, followed by his own and then Chris'.

" _A goddamn murderer is what you are!"_

" _...It's not ready..."_

 _"You manipulated us!"_

He shook his head in denial. "No, they're gonna love it..."

 _"You're a coward!"_ Chris' voice snapped. _"Are you insane!?"_

He heard his own voice again. _"I just want us to have a good time. They're gonna love it when it's ready."_

But it hadn't turned out that way, they overreacted and now he was stuck in this living nightmare.

He heard Ashley's voice screaming in his head, her cry of terror, then suddenly his own voice, distorted as the Psycho.

" _Hello there!"_

Josh shuddered and hissed. "I don't take orders from you...you can't tell me what to do..."

He heard Ashley again, from the time they did the seance. _"Josh! I don't know what's going on!"_

Josh grit his teeth, hearing the Psycho again. _"_ _How does it make you feel?"_

"You can't tell me what to do anymore..."

The Psycho just laughed. _"Time has run out for Josh."_

But soon the voices began to fade and he felt something else. "Okay...okay..."

This new feeling, whatever it was, felt as it if was guiding him.

Even as Hannah's voice echoed again. _"Come with us."_

"I trust you." He said at last.

Composing himself he soon found himself standing, ready to try and find his way out of this nightmare. He stumbled along a nearby path, towards the edge of the cavern seeking a way out. Suddenly however, Beth appeared, blocking the path, her skin was heavily decayed, as expected of a corpse.

"Josh!"

He stumbled back, panicking again. "No!, No, no, no, You're not real!"

Beth spoke again, her voice hoarse and, impossible. "We were all alone down there..."

"No, no...no, no, not again."

He stumbled away, attempting to head the other way.

Unfortunately, this time, when Beth appeared, an equally decayed Hannah appeared along side her.

"All alone." Hannah exclaimed. "But you're with us now."

"No!" He cried out. "Get away!"

"Family."

He tried to run away, down another path. "Get away from me, get away!"

"Why didn't you save us, Josh!" Beth demanded in an accusatory tone. "Why did you want us to die?"

Josh shook his head desperately. "I didn't, I didn't want you to die- I swear!"

He stumbled away, trying to drown out the sounds of his sister's voices. But when he stopped and opened his eyes again, he saw the wall in front of him had taken on the appearance of pig skin and a knife cut through it, the head of a squealing pig emerged.

Josh screamed and cried before lashing out, punching the thing in the face. As it hit the ground he let out a sound of disgust, before panicking again as suddenly it began to writhe and turn into a gigantic pile of pig entrails which suddenly morphed into Hannah and Beth again, now blood-stained and towering over him.

"Josh!"

"No no n- n- n- no... I don't... I don't take orders from you! No..." He pleaded.

Hannah suddenly reached up and ripped at her face, revealing a skull. "Is this what you want?"

"NO, NO!" He screamed. "Why are you doing this?! Leave me alone! Why are you doing this!?"

Hannah suddenly began accusing him again. "Why didn't you save us Josh, why did you want us to die?"

"You're dead." He screamed. "You're dead!"

Suddenly he heard an unearthly screech and suddenly, from within the walls, another face appeared, gaunt and stark white, sightless eyes glared at him as its razor sharp teeth parted Josh started at it in utter panic and disbelief.

* * *

 _Underground Mines_

 _Time: 06:00 (1 hour Until Dawn)_

Sam shook her head as she walked alongside Mike, searching for Josh.

She did her best to ignore the sticky feeling against her shins, how her yoga pants now stuck to her shins, she had reopened or gained fresh wounds to her legs as well as scratches on her right collar bone and up her neck a little, she also now felt the two large scrapes on her right cheekbone and above her left eyebrow.

Mike now sported a black eye, several scratches and scrapes and was covered in grime. Neither of them said much at first; both still reeling from their close encounter with the Wendigo.

"I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would b up close." She said at last.

"Yeah." Mike replied, hesitating briefly before continuing. "So, I noticed something kind of weird about it..."

Sam turned her head towards him, biting her lip, worried. "Uh...what?"

"The Wendigo, it had a scar."

"So?" She queried.

Mike sighed. "I've seen it before."

Sam stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw these old pictures of some guy with that same scar – and he was transforming into a Wendigo." Mike explained.

Sam gasped. "You're kidding."

Mike nodded. "It was one of those miners who'd been trapped, back in the fifties, in the cave-in. Which means that thing is eighty years old, at least."

Sam shook her head and resumed walking. "Spunky for an old timer."

She just prayed they'd find Josh soon, this was starting to fray even her nerves.

She swore to herself, this was all crazy, it had been the scariest and most nerve-jarring night of her life. The things she'd seen, the things she'd felt and endured, the feelings of violation she had felt still lingering. She was certain the others felt the same, she couldn't help but worry however, for Matt and Jess.

' _Despite what Mike and Emily said...I still kinda, wanna believe they're still alive.'_ She thought. _'Urgh, but after all this; if I get outta here alive, I just wanna crawl into a bed and not move for a week.'_

She was drained, physically and mentally; but until she was able to help the others and get everybody out, she couldn't afford to rest. She relied on her adrenaline to keep her going, at least for now.

"They cleaned the place out..." Mike said at last; continuing their earlier conversation "Killed a lot of people."

"They?" She asked; suddenly realizing just what he said. "You mean, there're more of them?"

"Oh yeah."

"How many?" She asked worriedly.

Mike's answer didn't help either. "Too many."

Suppressing a shudder, Sam thought for a moment. "I think we're close, to the lair."

"How can you tell?" He asked, incredulous.

"I don't know, I just..." She replied, hesitantly. "Feel really terrible all of a sudden."

Mike sighed and replied honestly. "Ditto."

She shuddered and tried to focus on moving forwards.

Their path continued onwards, until they found themselves at the edge of an underground lake, certainly going to be frigid cold.

"I really don't want to go in there." Sam muttered.

Mike shrugged. "There's no other way through."

Sam however wasn't convinced, she decided to see if the path to the right could get them around. As they walked however, her hopes soon died, but then she saw something else.

"Mike, is that what I think it is?" She asked warily.

"Shit..." He muttered. "looks like a grave."

Getting closer they saw it was indeed a grave, a grave that had been dug up. Something glinted in the center of it. Sam carefully stepped in and picked it up. Stepping back out of the grave, she and Mike examined the object; it was a wristwatch, engraved on the back it was the initials BW.

Sam gasped, recognizing it. "Oh God...Mike, this is Beth's! This is her watch!"

"What, let me see..." He replied, shocked.

Sam then noticed and pointed out. "Look, there was a cross here."

"So this is where she was buried."

"But..." Sam looked at the desecrated grave. "Who dug her up."

Mike shuddered, disturbed. "Let's keep moving."

Sam quietly agreed and they returned to the ledge they had approached earlier, by the water side.

Sam cringed as she looked over the murky water before sitting down, Mike sitting next to her.

"Fine...I'm going in." She said at last.

But she hesitated. Mike just shook his head and slid into the water. He waded forwards a few steps.

"Come on, it's okay." He told her as reassuringly as he could.

Sam shook her head. "You sure?"

"I'm not dead yet."

"Famous last words." She replied casually.

Still she slid into the water and gasped audibly.

"It's freezing, I can't feel my fingers." She exclaimed.

Mike just nodded and they continued to wade through the water, suddenly, Sam felt herself panic as the floor sloped down sharply, causing the water to get higher, Sam was soon in the water nearly up to her neck.

"Holy shit." Mike muttered; he wasn't quite as submerged.

Looking around worriedly, Sam spotted a ledge to her left and began making her way towards it in desperation.

"Wait a minute, I thought you'd reached the deepest part."

Mike shook his head, turning to follow her. "I didn't say that, I said it was okay, meaning like, there weren't any sharks or anything in here."

"Sharks." Sam groaned. "Great, thank you!"

Rolling her eyes she was relieved to find the path to the ledge was sloping upwards.

Reaching the ledge she pulled herself out, Mike followed her and they looked around, sadly there was no way to go forwards from here. Sam shuddered and groaned, she then spotted something on the ground, it was a journal. She picked it up and began to read through it.

' _This is Hannah's handwriting, huh, what's this…?'_ She thought to herself, before reading the entry aloud. "I'm sorry Beth... I have no choice. It's the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I'm sorry. I had to... I had no choice."

"What does it mean, Jesus?" Mike whispered.

Flipping through the journal she reached the last page, a mess of scrawls and suddenly, a disturbing thought reached Sam.

"Oh God...It makes sense..." She turned to Mike. "I think...Hannah dug up Beth, it was Hannah!"

Mike froze, catching the double meaning of her words. "No that's, that's ridiculous."

He was thinking about what had been revealed by Emily, how she found Beth's head, but nothing else.

"Michael... Michael, it has to be. It's the only thing that makes sense- Beth died in the fall."

"So what, what does that mean?" He demanded.

"So Hannah must have buried her." Sam replied; Mike shook his head, muttering in disbelief. "Hannah was down here...for..."

"I don't believe any of this!"

Sam shook her head. "She would have been starving, she would have been desperate. We need to find Josh, right now."

Mike sighed but nodded, both of them now thoroughly freaked by their shared realization, they now knew just what had happened to Hannah on that fateful night a year ago.

They hurried back and slid back into the water, making their way across to the other side. Mike noticed something however which worried him.

"It's getting deeper."

Sam cringed. "Yeah, uhm..."

She was now up to her chin but pushed on, a little further ahead, Mike spoke again, his words a relief to her in the frigid water.

"Okay, okay, hey it's sloping up again, we're gonna make it."

Relief flooded her but she replied in desperation. "Oh my god, don't jinx it!"

Finally however, they made it to the other side and climbed out, much to their relief. Quickly gathering themselves they approached the metal door at the other end of the ledge.

They attempted to open the door when suddenly it simply burst open, they reacted in surprise as water gushed from the door, amongst the water however, shocking them both and making Sam scream was a decomposing head.

"Jesus, she...Jee..." Mike stammered.

They slid through the door, suddenly dreading what they were going to find. Inside, in varying states of decay, hanging from the ceiling on meat hooks, were bodies, one of them they recognized right away as the Stranger, even without his head.

What neither of them saw was that in the water, watching them intently, was a Wendigo.

Still reeling from their discovery of the bodies Mike suddenly heard something, he looked through a gap in the boards.

"Wait, hold on, I think I saw something."

Sam joined him and they looked carefully. At the other end, jabbering to himself, was Josh. Sam cried out his name as they found a door in the wooden wall and hurried through towards him.

"I don't take orders from you, you can't tell me what to do..." Josh was mumbling.

"Hey, hey, Josh!" Mike called out.

They both shared a worried glance as Josh continued jabbering. They watched as Josh seemed to not even see them.

"What's the matter with him Mike?" Sam asked, concerned.

Mike shook his head, recalling the incident in the shed. "He's tripping or something. Josh!"

As he shouted he smacked Josh in the face. Josh staggered and blinked.

"M...Mike?"

"Josh...hey man-" Mike replied, a little relived he seemed himself again.

Josh shook his head, nearly whimpering. "Don't h-hit me, p-please-"

Mike shook his head. "You were deep in it man, full mental jacket."

"We didn't think we'd get you back..." Sam said softly; she bit her lip, it was hard, but she had to tell him the truth. "Josh... Hannah was down here for... weeks... a month?! She dug Beth up!"

Josh shook his head, unable to comprehend what Sam was saying.

Mike however dissuaded her from continuing her explanation and instead they planned to find a way out, Josh handed over the key for the cable car to Sam when asked and then she saw something, light coming from above, from a cliff wall.

"See that over there?" She said quickly. "That means there's a direct way out, c'mon."

Mike shook his head. "There's no way Josh is gonna make it up there."

Josh just nodded; still looking a little out of it.

Sam thought for a moment. "Okay, if you can help me up, I can go back to tell the others we're okay. You bring Josh back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge.

"Yeah, yeah good." Mike replied with a smile. "Be careful."

Sam nodded. "You too."

With that he gave Sam a boost and she began climbing the wall.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	27. Chapter 10 - Part 2

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 10 part 2 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Part 2 – Underground Terrors**

 _Underground Mines_

 _Time: 06:14 (1 hour Until Dawn)_

After watching Sam climb up the cliff wall until she was too far away, Mike turned to Josh.

"Alright, let's go you fucked up son of a bitch." Mike said as good-naturedly as he could.

Josh shuddered but nodded, following Mike. He had almost lost hope, but now, suddenly here he was with one of his friends again. Or at least, he hoped he could still be considered a friend. At he very least, he was glad that they were at least guiding him out of this trap.

Rubbing his jaw Josh spoke up, his voice slightly hoarse. "You didn't...you didn't have to hit me so much, man."

Mike grimaced. "Ah yeah, I'm sorry about before, man...I thought you killed Jess."

There was an uneasy silence before Mike sighed.  
"I was wrong."

Mike took a moment to compose himself, getting ready to enter the room full of bodies again. He glanced back at Josh, worried, before entering, as they entered Josh's eyes went wide.

"No...No!" He cried out in horror.

Mike urged him to keep moving and they did. As they walked however, Josh started muttering.

"I know, I know, I know, I know...okay..." He seemed to be talking to himself again.

Mike however was able, at last, to guide him out of the room and they reached the water's edge.

Josh looked over at Mike, worriedly, Mike just nodded and hopped down into the water. Josh hesitantly followed and soon they began wading through the water, heading for the other side. Josh finally felt himself calming down as they progressed, slowly but surely; things seemed to be getting better.

"Oh fu-!" Mike cried suddenly before he was pulled under the water.

Josh froze, his heart hammering in his chest, mind racing, then suddenly a beastly creature leapt from the depths; it towered over him, sinewy and completely white, eyes apparently blind, teeth and claws razor sharp, it was the monster he saw in his nightmare.

"NO!" He screamed, trying back away. "You're not real, No, you're not..."

He was cut off when the monster then grabbed him. Then he saw it's right shoulder, saw something impossible. For there, on the monster's shoulder, was a black butterfly tattoo, a very familiar black butterfly tattoo.

Josh was crushed as he realized at last, who this monster was. "Hannah!"

The monster paused, staring at him for a moment, then suddenly picked him up and began to drag him away.

"Noooo, noooo!" He screamed; terrified.

But it was no use, the Wendigo, now revealed to be Hannah, was just too strong. Helpless and unable to save his friend, Mike remained covered behind the rock, seething at his own helplessness.

* * *

 _Underground Mines_

 _Time: 06:24 (1 hour Until Dawn)_

Matt grunted as he climbed over the metal fence which had been partially blocking his path.

' _Fuck, how long have I been down here?'_ He wondered to himself. _'Shit, everything's messed up, can't find my way...Emily...Emily.'_

He prayed for some miracle, for Emily to be alive, that the fall hadn't killed her. Looking around he found himself near a table upon which was a lantern and a lighter. He smiled at the chance to finally have some light and quickly picked up the lighter, opened the lantern and lit it.

Satisfied he put the lighter down, picked up the lantern and turned. Just in time to see a figure swinging a shovel at him. Acting on instinct he made a grab for the shovel, trying to arrest its momentum, only for it to snap in two. The figure let out a terrified scream, a terrified feminine scream, that he recognized.

His eyes widened as the light of his lantern revealed the figure to be a very familiar beige blonde girl; but she looked drastically different, she was covered in blood, with massive scars across her face and what little of her chest was exposed, there appeared to even be a small gouge in her cheek, most certainly caused by claws.

She was wearing a ratty old miners coat and boots, leaving her legs bare, and bloody, it was clear from her uncontrollable shivering she didn't have much else on underneath. Her paleness only emphasized the blood even more, her eyes were completely surrounded by dark shadows and were puffy.

Even like this, he still knew exactly who she was.

But he had to be sure. "Whoa, Jess, is that you?"

She whimpered a little but nodded, it seemed even the smallest motion was hurting her.

"Jesus Jess, what the hell happened to you?" He queried in disbelief. "How the fuck are you still alive?"

"Yeah..." She wheezed, the only answer she could give.

It seemed even she didn't know how she survived whatever had happened to her.

"How did you end up here?" He asked worriedly.

Jess shook her head, her voice hoarse. "Mike and I were...we were, messing around and, and...then it was, we..."

"What?"

"I don't-I don't know..." She almost whimpered. "I was by the window and there was all this glass and, it was in the snow and then, it was...moving so fast...fuck."

She shook her head again, almost feeling tears welling up in her eyes once more.

She did her best to compose herself and finish her statement. "And then, I was, I was down here."

"Jesus." Matt whispered.

Jess grimaced as a fresh wave of pain assaulted her. "Oh God..."

"Can you move?" Matt asked worriedly, looking around.

They could both hear the unearthly shrieks around them and the sound of something skittering across rock.

She nodded slowly, her voice weak as she replied. "Yes."

Matt took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, come on Jess."

She followed as he began to lead her away, hopefully to safety.

As they walked something caught his eye, he approached and was startled by what he saw, a mining elevator, in ruins, with rocks around it, apparently caved in.

He mentioned it to Jess.

Her response startled him. "That was me...I fell, through that roof."

He turned to her amazed. "You fell this far? Jesus, that makes two of us."

"What?" She gasped, her turn to be startled.

"I fell off a goddamned fire tower down here." He explained.

Jess let out a short gasp, before breathlessly replying. "You're kidding me."

Matt shook his head before they decided to press on and so they made their way down the only path available now, a tunnel by some rail tracks and tool stands.

They walked in silence, except for Jess' laboured breathing as they turned and made their way down another tunnel; this one mostly bare rock, until they reached some wooden walls.

Suddenly they heard the screech again, this time louder, it was closer.

"Huh?" Matt gasped.

Jess looked around, desperate. "Fuck."

Matt began to move quickly. "J-Jess?!"

He looked over his shoulder; she was following but not quickly, she was stumbling, she couldn't run, the pain was too much. He stopped around looked around, he could keep running, or he could take cover behind a gap in the wooden wall.

"Which way?" He muttered.

Jess' whimper of pain decided for him.

He knew she couldn't keep up if he ran; but he was damned if he was going to leave her behind to be killed by whatever was chasing them.

"Alright." He said at last. "Come on, Jess."

She followed him into the gap behind the wall and they pressed themselves up against it, Matt gently motioned for Jess to stay quiet and she did her best, screwing her eyes shut against the agony ricocheting through her body.

They could hear the skittering and screeching behind them, and the ragged breathing of the creature, then it began to fade as it moved away. Suddenly Jess felt dizzy and began to stumble, acting quickly Matt caught her, making her cry out.

"Jeez..." He whispered, looking around, nothing had heard them. "Does this hurt?"

Jess's only response was choked. "Oh God..."

"Alright, alright..." He said gently, letting her go once she could stand.

He gently guided her out and they began to move down the tunnel, a lot more wary now.

Matt quickened his pace slightly, but not to a run. Jess was still able to just about keep up.

"Let's go, we gotta do this, get out of here." He told her. "Come on, come on, come on, come on."

Urged on by Matt, Jess followed as quickly as she could.

As they turned another corner they heard the screeching again.

"Jess!" He cried out in a panic. "Jess come on."

Looking back he could see the creature leaping around the corner, behind them. He then stopped, as did Jess, the path split, they could go left and continue, or he could try and break through the wooden boards to his right, where he could see light filtering in.

He knew Jess couldn't make it down the long path to the left, not with that thing so close behind. So he barged through the boards, breaking them.

"Whoa!" He cried as he nearly overbalanced, almost falling off the cliff.

They were outside now, the snow falling down. Seeing a ledge to their right as Jess joined him, he moved carefully over to it, with Jess right behind him.

"Ugh..." She groaned as she felt the cold immediately bite into her bare legs, turning them almost numb. "Oh my god...Okaay..."

She edged up next to Matt and they stopped, staying as still as they dared.

The creature leapt out and looked around, growling; but didn't seem to see them, it finally turned and leapt back into the depths of the mines. Matt let out a breath of relief, Jess slumped against the rock wall behind her, letting out a dry sob.

They both looked up in relief at the rising sun and heard the blessed sound of approaching helicopters.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	28. Chapter 10 - Part 3

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 10 part 3 of my Until Dawn novelization, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Part 3 – No Safe Passage**

 _Blackwood Forest_

 _Time: 06:36 (1 hour Until Dawn)_

Gritting her teeth, Sam clambered up until she reached a ledge large enough to stand on. She bent over, hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. Recovering she stood and looked upwards, biting her lip.

' _Nearly there...just this...last wall, then I'm up.'_ She told herself as she examined the final portion of wall she was yet to climb.

She knew she couldn't delay any further; she had to get a move on. So, taking a risk she jumped to grab one of the higher rocks, she caught it, was able to catch her foot in a niche and then was able to grab another rock higher up and pulled herself upwards.

Looking around she spotted an overhanging rock above her head. Tensing her muscles she launched herself up again, grabbing onto it, she hauled herself upwards until she had a good grip on the surface of the wall, her feet now also secure, with one on top of the overhang.

"Ugh..." She grunted with the effort. "Come on."

She looked up, she was very nearly at the top; just a little further and she would be at the surface.

She climbed around, grabbing a nearby branch, set her foot properly and then grabbed the ledge above, she hauled herself up and then, panting, breathless, she stood, up in the surface, in the forest again, the snow falling around her.

Shivering she blew on her hands, trying to warm them up.

She shook her head. _'Pity these clothes weren't suitable for this kind of weather; still; just have to bear it, nearly there.'_

She knew the way back now, she could see the lodge in the distance and, closer by, the shed.

She immediately began walking; standing still wouldn't help her here, she'd just freeze.

' _Although if a Wendigo comes along, it'll be my best defence...Freezing to death.'_ She thought with a touch of dark humour. _'Don't think they'd like a Sam popsicle.'_

She reached a brief divergence in the path, but both seemed to lead the same way, so she choose the right path and followed it. When they finally met she stopped.

"Oh man..." She groaned.

She was at a lake, she'd have to wade across. Just when she thought she was done with that, just when she had finally dried off.

Shaking her head she dropped down into the lake and shrieked from the cold that instantly bit into her skin, soaking her clothes. She cringed and forced herself onwards, wading through the water towards the other end, when suddenly she heard a loud noise.

She paused and looked around, but nothing happened.

' _Oh please don't say I'm getting paranoid now.'_ She thought worriedly.

Composing herself she continued until she reached the other end and climbed out. Shivering uncontrollably, she moved onwards, wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't dare stop until she reached a high ledge, she saw only one way down. Taking a deep breath she began to slide down, but lost control.

"Whoa..." She cried out. "Oh shit!"

She grunted in pain as she reached the bottom, only to fall hard on the ground, on her stomach.

Groaning she pushed herself upwards, she had to keep moving. Her walk was interrupted by the screech of a Wendigo, loud, as if it was nearby. Instantly panic seized her, she was so close, she was at the shed.

She quickly made up her mind. _'Crap, gotta take the risk.'_

She immediately took off running, going straight for the lodge. She looked over her shoulder desperately, fearful of pursuit. Looking forwards again, she barely had any time to react before ducking under the tree log.

"Shit!" She cried at her close call.

She quickly stopped, scoping out the area. She couldn't hear any more signs of pursuit, but she still had to get to the lodge, quickly.

She continued to run, jumping down the next ledge and over a broken jar in the path.

The lodge was within sight now; She ran up the stairs onto the porch and made straight for the door. But it was locked, she couldn't open it.

"HEY! HEY! COME ON OPEN UP!" She cried out in a panic. "GUYS COME ON ARE YOU IN THERE? LET ME IN!"

"Sam-"

She screamed and spun around.

"Shit, Mike!" She cried in relief before really looking at him. "Oh gosh, you look terrible-"

Mike shook his head. "Gonna look worse if we stay out here, come on!"

Sam looked around, there was no other way around it. She quickly picked up a rock from the ground and used it to smash one of the glass panes in the door. Through it she was able to reach in and unlock the door. She and Mike quickly entered the lodge, stopping to catch their breath.

It was then Sam realized Mike was alone.

"Okay...Mike, w-what happened to Josh?" She asked fearfully.

Mike shook his head sadly. "It got him."

Sam grimaced. "Oh, god, what an awful way to go..."

She shook her head and, acting automatically, flipped the lights on, but Mike quickly turned them back off, shaking his head. Sam quietly agreed and, after a brief discussion, they began making their way down to the basement, checking for the others.

"How do you rate our chances of survival?" Sam asked nervously.

Mike sighed. "I'm trying not to think about it."

It was then they heard the screams. The door to the basement was open and they could see the others, Chris in the lead, running towards them.

"GET OUTTA HERE, GO, GO, GO!" He cried out.

He quickly ran past them, Ashley and Emily were approaching rapidly too.

"GO, RUN!" Ashley screamed.

At the same time, Emily yelled out. "GO, GO, WE GOTTA GO!"

Ashley let out a yelp as Emily suddenly pushed her aside, knocking her into the wall and making her stumble.

She quickly recovered however and ran out, just as the two Wendigos appeared and began approaching the door.

"Sam..." Mike called warning. "Run...RUN!"

He turned and ran, Sam however quickly darted forwards and pulled the door shut, locking it. She heard the thumping as the Wendigos began striking at it. She just prayed it would buy them some time as she ran after the others.

As she reached the top of the stairs she stopped dead; the others were already standing, rigid and terrified.

"Don't...move..." Mike whispered to her. "Don't fucking move a muscle."

Sam had no intentions of moving. For there, hanging from the large chandelier decoration in the middle of the great room, was a Wendigo, one that looked just like the one Emily described chased her in the mines.

Sam did her best not to move, no easy task after her trip through the icy lake. The Wendigo snarled and partially turned. It was then Sam's sharp eyes caught it, she heard Mike gasp and knew he had seen it too.

She had been right all along, for there, on the Wendigo's right shoulder, was a black butterfly tattoo.

' _Hannah...'_

Just then they heard the skittering and went tense all over again, the other two Wendigo were now here.

Wendigo Hannah saw their movements and growled. As one of the Wendigo leapt somewhere out of sight, the other approached the middle of the room, just as Hannah leapt down and immediately tackled it.

Soon the two were struggling for dominance and Sam quickly glanced around, Mike was a few feet to her right, the others were further away, near the door, but spaced out, there was no way they could all make it out together, not like this.

Suddenly the Wendigo screeched as Hannah threw it into the stairs, breaking them and then against the fireplace. Mike's eyes widened when he saw the damage, and also a chance.

The Wendigo recovered and climbed the wall, Hannah quickly followed, both of them screeching and snapping at each other. Mike's eyes were fixed on the broken gas pipe however, leaking gas into the room, he remembered the information about the Wendigos fatal weakness being fire.

Right now, killing them was the only option left. It wouldn't be easy, they'd need someone to ignite the gas and whoever did it would more than likely be incinerated too.

Looking around he spotted a bare light bulb, if they could just break it, they'd have the means to make a spark. The light switch was right by the door.

' _It's crazy but...but it's doable...'_ He told himself.

Glancing at Sam, he saw she had been following the same line of thought; she nodded in agreement, they had a plan, now they just needed to put it into action.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	29. Chapter 10 - Part 4

**Until Dawn: The Butterfly Tale**

Chapter 10 part 4 of my Until Dawn novelization, let's see where we go from that cliffhanger from last chapter :)

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – Part 4 – Fiery Conclusions**

 _Washington Ski Lodge_

 _Time: 06:54 (1 hour Until Dawn)_

The Wendigos resumed their fight until Hannah threw the Wendigo she had been attacking away. The Wendigo that had disappeared from sight returned, leaping at her as she responded in kind. Both of them collided in mid air, fell to the ground and soon Hannah recovered.

Seizing the other Wendigo by the head she smashed him repeatedly into the ground before simply pulling his head off.

Throughout this, Mike had been slowly edging his way towards the light bulb. Meanwhile, Sam stepped back, shocked and awed by the raw display of power, and terrified by it. She knew, if Hannah, or any of the other Wendigos got a hold of her, or any of the others, it was over for them.

There would be no wriggling free, no last minute reprieve, just a quick, messy and extremely painful death.

*CREAK*

Sam froze as she stepped on the floorboard. _'Crap.'_

She immediately went still as Hannah turned to her and screeched. Sam remained as still as possible, no easy task due to her recent cold swim, her muscles were aching to shiver, but she couldn't afford to.

She resisted and resisted while Hannah stalked towards her, snarling. Mike took advantage of this moment to reach the light bulb and, grunting with effort, squeezed it until it broke. The sound made Hannah screech again and spin around. Sam looked over desperately to where the others were.

They were too spaced out, they couldn't all escape at once; the lodge was still filling with gas; the explosion would be dangerous enough without the rest of the group being in danger.

Chris was nearest the door and, at the moment, had the best chance. Catching his eye she nodded and, taking the hint, he quickly darted for the door, making it out of the lodge and to safety she hoped.

' _Just gotta, find a way to keep Hannah distracted...so Emily and Ashley can escape, then it's just me and Mike...and our plan.'_ She told herself.

Mike cringed as he looked back from where he had broken the light bulb, thus readying it. Hannah was approaching him, she had turned her attention to him. Sam thought frantically, she had to act, before it was too late.

With the light bulb broken they only needed to flick the switch and the building would explode. But she couldn't do that yet, not with three of her friends still inside, they'd be incinerated in the blast. She wasn't even sure she had a chance to survive it; much less anyone else.

She saw Hannah closing in on Mike. _'Got to do something, now...distract her, anything.'_

She knew it was risky, it would allow more gas to fill the room, the explosion would be larger possibly; but that was a risk she had to take.

She could only see one option, she had to get the Wendigo's attention back on herself.

"HEY!" She cried out, as loud as she could.

With another screech Hannah turned and stalked towards Sam, she did her utmost to stay still, despite the chill that seeped through her skin. She also prayed the gas interfered with the Wendigo's sense of smell; it would be a bonus if it did.

Out the corner of her eye she saw Emily making her escape, now she just had to get Ashley and Mike to safety. Unfortunately, at that moment, Ashley's foot made contact with another creaking floorboard. Hannah turned and began to walk in Ashley's direction.

Acting purely on instinct, Sam reacted, running to nearby pillar and pressing herself against it, making as much noise as possible.

' _C'mon, c'mon, leave Ash and look for me, c'mon.'_ She found herself desperately thinking.

The things she did for her friends truly surprised her time to time. She heard the footsteps and felt the Wendigo's breath as it drew up alongside her. As it turned away, Sam glanced out from behind the pillar and just saw Ashley exiting.

She was almost there now. She darted to another section of the wall and hid, Hannah turned again and drew closer, closer than ever before, her face mere inches from the side of Sam's. Sam screwed her eyes shut tight, staying as rigid as she could despite the overwhelming desire to shiver; despite the rancid breath of the Wendigo as it screamed right in her ear.

Despite everything; she remained where she was. Hannah turned away and began to edge further into the room. Glancing out Sam saw Mike right by the door; she nodded to him and he slowly, hesitantly, exited. Now it was her turn.

Taking a deep breath she did the only thing she could, she ran straight for the light switch; she heard the screeching and knew that other Wendigo was chasing her.

Desperation pumped massive amounts of adrenaline through her veins, she ran faster, everything pounding through her body, the beast behind her screeched louder. She didn't dare look, but she caught a flicker of movement out the corner of her eye, where Hannah had been and then heard the fighting, Hannah had attacked the other Wendigo.

' _Now or never!'_

With a yell she leapt forwards, hitting the light switch and propelling herself out the door.

The explosion was deafening and made her grunt as the force of it hit her, causing her to be thrown back. Inside the Wendigos were incinerated. Outside, Sam groaned and slowly picked herself up from where she had landed in the snow.

Mike slowly stood too, Ashley and Chris were seated nearby, Emily standing just behind them. They stood, watching the lodge burn in silence; as the sun rose, bringing daylight at last and with it, the sound of helicopters approaching.

* * *

Meanwhile, underground, unaware of the rescue of the others, or the explosion of the lodge, Josh growled as he devoured the head he held in his hands. His face twisted and contorted as he did so, the curse of the Wendigo living on.

* * *

End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Well, now we reach the end of chapter 10, quite an adventure for my first playthrough of the game; there is of course scenes during the credits where the survivors recount their experience to the police, but I can't think of an effective way to set that up as a chapter, so I'll be ending this here.


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